Summer Scent
by malika-azrael
Summary: It's no fun without my brat prince. Sakuya says. As an old friend, who's also USA National Tennis Championship winner comes to Japan Ryoma's life changes. What is Sakuya ulterior motive? What will Ryoma do?
1. Chapter 01

**Summer Scent**

Chapter I

It was a sunny day. The sky was cloudless. The birds chirped happily and the wind blew gently but all of it didn't make the fourteen years old Sakuya Alexander Rothstein felt any better.

"Boring...boring...and boring..." the blonde grumbled as he hit the ball across the net at an unbelievable speed which his opponent failed to return.

He was in the final match of Junior Tennis Tournament. You may say that this was the final but Sakuya felt that his opponent was not worthy and as the game played his sour mood turned worse.

His opponent shot the ball and as if to share his feeling he smashed the tennis ball, which sent it flying for his opponent's face when it bounced off the court. It was only by a strange stroke of luck that the other boy managed to avoid the ball at all.

"Game won by Rothstein."

Thanks God it's finished now. A set of speech, bla bla bla... and finally he could go home...

And yet his sour mood didn't less as he walked out from the gate and found a black limousine already waiting for him. Sakuya entered the vehicle and saw someone seated inside it. A blonde man with the same green eyes Sakuya had.

"Congratulation," James Rothstein said.

His son didn't reply though.

"You don't look very happy," James stated, which was true. Sakuya's beautiful and innocent face, which always reminded James of his late wife, looked upset.

"Why would I?" Sakuya asked sarcastically. "The match was boring anyway." He looked at the man. "And what are you doing here? Don't you have something to do? Meeting or something like that..."

"I came to see my son's performance, of course." He answered back.

Sakuya didn't give any comment. He was busy with his own thinking.

"Why don't you play double?" James asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't play double anymore," he answered, with a tinge of annoyance in his voice. "And I don't want to talk about that either."

James sighed. A moment like this always made him wonder if he had spoiled Sakuya. Since his wife died and he himself busy with the job, Sakuya was left with the nanny and servants so as the compensation he gave him everything a boy might want. Maybe he was indeed spoiled him and maybe he wasn't a good father either. Sometimes, he wondered if it were his fault. Was he wrong? But what else was there to do? A three years old child and a father who had to work... he didn't have many choices at that time.

And now Sakuya had grown from a cute little boy he was became someone James couldn't understand. Simply to be said, he didn't know his son anymore. There was an invincible wall between them and he didn't know how to get through. James was absorbed in his own thinking when suddenly Sakuya said something he never expected.

"That's it! I'm going to Japan." That sounded out of blue, even though it came from Sakuya's mouth.

James was lost in words for a few moments before he managed to say something. "What?"

"You heard me Father." Sakuya said, annoyed.

"But why?" He asked, staring at Sakuya's face intensely. The determination was showed in his eyes, the boy was serious, James realized in instant.

"It's no fun here without him." Sakuya simply answered.

"Him? Who?" A useless question because he already knew the answer.

This time Sakuya smiled. "My brat prince."

Author's Note:

Hi! I just want to say that in this fic, Ryoma and Sakuya both are in the first class of senior high school. I kind of add three year to all of them so they're fourteen now and will graduate when they're seventeen. Anyway I normally don't like original character but for Ryoma I decide to create someone for him because honestly I don't think there is someone in the story that fit him. Read and review okay.


	2. Chapter 02

**Summer Scent**

Chapter II

Sakuya was seated on the chair beside Takagi, his lawyer and the one who would take care of everything while he was in Japan, and in front of Seigaku's principal, Aoyama; he was an old man with friendly face. From where sat he could see outside the window, watching the students practiced tennis on tennis court.

He was finally in Japan. His father was quite freaked out after he heard his plan and used every possible excuse to persuade him. But in the end, he gave up. It was really easy though. James Rothstein could ever say no to his son and it was Sakuya trump card. As long as he played the right card he would get whatever he wanted.

"So, what do you think Aoyama-san?" Takagi asked, disturbing him from his thinking.

Aoyama lifted his face from the papers. "Actually we don't accept a new student this late in the year but," he smiled, "I think we can make an exception for this time. I am impressed by your grades, and it's a shame to reject a clever student like you Rothstein-sama."

He wanted to snort upon hearing the comment although he resisted the urge. It was true that it was not usual for a student to move in this kind of time but it was also true that his father had donated a big amount of money. Typical of his father, Sakuya thought sarcastically, everything could be solved with money. And yet he couldn't escape the fact that he also had the same opinion. He was in Seigaku now thanked to his father's wealth.

"The administration papers are fine too, so it's settled then..." he said to Takagi then turned his attention to Sakuya who wore an innocent face. "Welcome to Seigaku. I hope you will enjoy your time here Rothstein-sama."

Which he doubted he would because if _that person_ wasn't here, he wouldn't step his feet in here.

"So, when will the class begin?" Takagi asked on Sakuya behalf.

"Tomorrow."

And now here he was, standing in the front of Seigaku's main gate. Many students walked passed him, as it was almost eight o'clock, looked at him strangely. That could be understood, since you just found a foreigner standing in front of your school. Ignoring them, he walking in, towards the teacher's office first as he was told yesterday.

He knocked the door and walked in. Which one was his homeroom teacher anyway? His question was answered as a middle aged woman waved his hand to him, motioning him to come.

"You're Sakuya Rothstein, right?" She asked.

Sakuya nodded, eyeing the woman. She seemed quite friendly for a teacher.

"I'm Yukari-sensei, your homeroom teacher and I also teach English here." She explained. "But I guess you don't need to worry about that." She smiled and continued. "I knew that you were born and grow up in New York so I hope you can adapt with the life here, Rothstein-san." It was unusual for a teacher to regard their student by suffix san as an honor but the principal had told them all about this special case in a special meeting. She guessed that was the case with the son of a billionaire. "Well, let's me show you the way to your class." She stood and walked out, Sakuya following him. They entered the first class in the corridor, next to the stairs.

Yukari-sensei walked in first with Sakuya tailing him. He could see that the entire class was looking at him with mild interest.

"This is the new student, Sakuya Rothstein. He just moved from New York." Yukari-sensei said.

"Nice to meet you all," Sakuya said.

Yukari-sensei searched for the empty seat and finally found one. "There, you sit there Rothstein-san." She pointed. "Next to the window, in the sixth row, behind Osakada."

He walked towards the place and the girl, Osakada, smiled at him. He sat in the chair and the lesson began. He didn't pay attention to the teacher though. It was English lesson for crying out loud, so he gazed out the window, his mind flying to another thing or, but in this case...another person.

And finally it was break time soon after Yukari-sensei walked out, the girl in front of him turned and began to introduce herself.

"Hi! I'm Osakada Tomoka." She said, staring at Sakuya. The boy was cute, she thought, but of course Ryoma-sama was the cutest. Said boy had blond hair and huge green eyes, which dominated his heart shaped face. Also his skin was so pale that it was almost white. He definitely looked like foreigner and considered from his weird name, it was true. She was about to ask when someone called her.

"Tomo-chan!"

Both Sakuya and Osakada turned and saw a girl and three boys next to her.

"Hey Sakuno, come here!" she called. "You too." She mentioned to the boys. They looked hesitate but came too. "They are my friends. This is Ryuzaki Sakuno and those three boys are Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro." She introduced them.

They exchanged greetings.

"Ehm nice to meet you Rotho-uhm..." Ryuzaki seemed to have problem to pronounce his name so he decided to interrupt the girl.

"Sakuya, you can call Sakuya." He said.

"Are you truly foreigner?" Horio asked, couldn't hide his curiosity.

"I am mixed," Sakuya answered. "My father is German American but my mother is Japanese."

"But why you moved in such a time?" Osakada asked.

He evaded the question. "It is not a big deal. Anyway why don't you show me place around here?"

So they took Sakuya around the school and finally they arrived at tennis court. It was empty.

"Where are the people?" Sakuya asked.

"It's break time. The members are busy with the preparation to support the game tomorrow and the regulars don't go to school today. They have just come back from training camp and take a break today."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, we're all members of tennis club too." Horio answered proudly. "Hey, you're a new student. Have you known which club you're going to? How about tennis?"

"I don't know yet but I will think about it." He had decided not to mention about him playing tennis.

"The tennis club here is number one! Don't you know that Seigaku is famous of its tennis?" Horio kept speaking. Truly, that boy didn't know when to stop. Normally Sakuya would be so pissed off with this kind of attitude but for now he decided to tolerate it, after all he needed to know more about the situation.

"...and I have two years experience in playing tennis," Horio said smugly.

"But the only one first year student who is regular is Ryoma-kun," Kachiro said.

"Yes!" Osakada exclaimed suddenly. "Ryoma-sama is the best!"

"Ryoma-sama?" a blankly puzzled look spread over Sakuya's face.

"Err..." Ryuzaki smiled nervously. "She means is Echizen Ryoma, my classmate."

"Yes!" Osakada cut off, her voice was dreamy. "He is the only one regular who still the first year student, the prodigy. Did you know he beat all of his opponent and..." And she kept rambling in the background while Ryuzaki and the other sweat dropped.

Sakuya didn't hear anymore what she said as his mind processed the information, regular who still the first year student...the prodigy... Perfect...this all was too perfect for his plan, Sakuya thought inwardly, smirking evilly.

"Sakuya-san?" the voice broke his train of thought.

"Ah yes?" he turned to look at Katsuo.

"Uhm-no...it's just...you kept silent..." Katsuo was confused to see the boy in front of him had a smirk plastered on his face. Why was he smirking? The others didn't see it, being absorbed in their conversation.

"It's because you talk too fast," He replied; it was a lie though. He mastered Japanese language perfectly but these people didn't need to know, did they? "And the person you're talking about, Echizen, are you his friends?"

"Of course!" Horio said while Kachiro and Katsuo nodded - Osakada still in dreamland. But Sakuya noticed Ryuzaki was blushing heavily and staring at the ground, so this girl had a crush on _him_, eh?

Their conversation was cut because the break time was over and they returned to their class. When the school was over, he found Ryuzaki standing next to the door as he walked out of the class.

"Ah Sakuya-san, Tomo-chan," Ryuzaki said, she was waiting for Osakada.

Sakuya nodded and was about to walk away when Osakada called him.

"Tomorrow we will go to tennis court to watch the match so I'm wondering maybe you would like to come with us?" Osakada had grown fond of Sakuya in few hours much like in Ryoma's case. It was normal anyway, she liked cute boys and Sakuya seemed a lot friendlier than Ryoma. That was an understatement though, since Ryoma usually acted cold towards most of the people, so she asked him but much to her disappointment Sakuya shook his head and said, "Well, I already have another plan."

"But-" she tried to argue when Ryuzaki elbowed her in the ribs.

"Oh no, it's okay." Ryuzaki assured him. "Bye Sakuya-san." She dragged Osakada along with her.

Sakuya watched them walked away. So he befriended with them? Surely what had gotten into his head? That Osakada was clearly a maniac fans girl. The Ryoma-sama part was quite a development, but Ryuzaki was nice enough even though was shy, Horio the snob, very annoying with his big mouth, and last, Kachiro and Katsuo were a silent type but they indeed had more intelligent than that Horio.

The match tomorrow... would he come? Of course... but he never watched a tennis match with another person, well exception for _that person_. It disturbed his concentration greatly so he rejected their invitation. And beside that, if they were really his friends, he would meet him and Sakuya didn't want that to happen. Not this soon - actually Sakuya was happy to find out that _he_ didn't come to school today so he didn't need to meet with him that fast. He wanted to see how far he had progressed first...

Saturday morning, Sakuya arrived at the tennis court early but it was already full of people anyway. He glanced at his surroundings, half people wearing Seigaku's uniform and the other wearing another school's uniform. He could guess it was Rikkai's students; he was on the tennis court to watch the semi-finals match between Seigaku against Rikkai anyway.

And now, the match he already waiting for, Echizen Ryoma against Sanada. He could see Horio and the others looked very worried when Ryoma fell behind and seemed that he was going to lose. Sakuya didn't feel worry at all, he knew Ryoma, and he knew he was going to be a winner. His prediction was never wrong.

He got up from his seat and walked away before any of his classmates' could recognize him.

Fascinating... the match was indeed quite fascinating. He actually didn't expect for Japanese students to play tennis in this level. But still...This was not Ryoma's place. The teen didn't belong here.

"Oi Echizen!" Momoshiro called upon seeing the freshman looked in daze. "Echizen!"

Ryoma turned. "What is it Momo senpai?"

"What were you thinking?" Momo asked, curious.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Echizen said nonchalantly.

"Really?" he didn't believe him but then shrugged, deciding to drop the matter. "Then hurry, the ceremony is about to begun."

As he walked Ryoma still turned for the last time. One by one the spectators started to leave the tribune consisted of Rikkai's students, Seigaku's students, journalists and common spectators. It was weird but for a moment. At the match he thought he saw one familiar figure, someone who was the most precious person for him.

He sighed. Maybe he already lost it, that person was in New York after all.

**Author's Note:**

Hi. It's me. As usual please give me reviews so I know if you like the story or not. Thanks.


	3. Chapter 03

**Summer Scent**

Chapter III

A constant ring of alarm clock had woken up Echizen Ryoma from his peaceful sleep. He yawned and grabbed the clock, intending to turn off the alarm. After all, he was not a morning person and it was only 6 o'clock in the morning. With a groan he flopped back into the bed and tried to sleep again, but his mind didn't want to cooperate this time. He finally opened his eyes, and as he stared at the ceiling his mind couldn't help but recalled his match against Sanada.

Tired, he was so tired after the match even though he won 7-5. First he was losing badly but managed to come back and win in the end. He had to admit that Sanada was one of the strongest players he ever met and that made his will to beat him grow more and more.

He didn't know how or why but he had this kind of tendency to not lose to anyone, but something inside him hated and loathed losing. He knew he could do that, he had ability, talent and with some training...

And yet he still hadn't defeated his father, Tezuka or Fuji...though with Fuji the case was a bit different. If only it didn't rain at that time the result of the game would be different.

Faced a strong opponent gave him a strong motivation; the stronger the opponent the greater his motivation was. He had to be better and wining the match helped him to prove that. Simple wasn't it? Because he was aiming higher...

"Ryoma-san!" His cousin's yell shattered his train of thought. "Wake up! It is 6.30 now!"

WHAT! 6.30!

He sprang up from his bed immediately. He didn't realize he spent half hour thinking. When he walked inside the dining room, his meal was ready on the table; western food of course. His mother didn't like Japanese food. Ryoma could count using his fingers how often he had Japanese's one.

In his way to school he met Momoshiro and the boy kept rambling about yesterday's match, and about how he finally beat Sanada and about how Seigaku was going to National.

Momoshiro's rambling only stopped when they reached school which Ryoma was thanked for and headed the tennis court for morning practice. All of regulars and tennis club's member were already there; everyone seemed in high spirit because of their winning.

Yet, it didn't stopped Oishi to give them hard training. From far away Ryoma could hear Kimumaru's whining about how strict the vice captain was now. Regular selection matches was going to be held in a week's time and Tezuka would be back too. Oishi felt that he needed to show everyone that he could handle the team even when their captain was not around. Ryoma thought Oishi was a bit exaggerated; everyone knew how much his care of the team.

Kikumaru had seen them. He waved his hand before ran towards them. "Ochibi! Momo-chan!" and next was his complaint about Oishi now was going to be the next Tezuka if he kept behaving like that. Honestly in Ryoma's opinion, that couldn't happen in a million year.

Suddenly he stopped dead on his track, upon seeing the unmistakable familiar figure. Even from far away he could still depict the blond boy.

"Sakuya..." he breathed out.

"Huh?" Momoshiro stopped too. "Did you say something?" he asked but got no answer since Echizen had run away. "Oi Echizen!"

"What is wrong with ochibi today nya?" Kikumaru muttered.

"I don't know Kikumaru senpai." Momoshiro said in bewilderment. For some certain reasons Echizen had been acting weird after the match against Sanada, but there was nothing out of ordinary at that time. Then again, no one could ever understand Echizen's thinking.

Ryoma ran into the court, stopping right behind the blond. Sensing his presence the boy turned and smiled.

"**Well, well...hello Ryoma,**" resting his hand against his hip, the blond greeted him casually, "**Long time no see...**"

For a few rare moments, Ryoma was speechless.

"**Sakuya...what are you doing here?**" he finally asked after he found his voice again.

"**Is that a way to greet your old friend? Really Ryoma? **_**I'm touched.**_" Sakuya said sarcastically before smiled again. **"You haven't changed at all."**

Sakuya also didn't change at all. The blond was still as charming and as gorgeous as ever. But he decided to keep that part for himself for now. "**Sakuya," **he fixed him with stern glare,** "what are **_**you **_**doing here?"**

"**I join Seigaku's tennis club.**" Sakuya said innocently. "**Your teammate suggested it."**

"**That's-"**

"Sakuya-san you're here. I was looking for you," Oishi interrupted, and then he noticed Ryoma's presence. "Echizen...you're here too."

"..."

Oishi took a quick glance at the smiling Sakuya and the boy next to him. Echizen looked agitated more than ever.

"Ngg...Do you know each other?"

"Sort of," Sakuya answered. Echizen didn't say a word.

"So you play tennis too?"

"Whoa...who's this foreign boy, nya?" Kikumaru exclaimed. He and Momoshiro joined them.

"I'm Sakuya, a new member here. Nice to meet you all."

Ryoma raised his eyebrow, now that's new. Sakuya wasn't a polite person and he knew it more than anyone. The blond had something in his mind. That was for sure.

"Wow! We have a newcomer nya...Oh! I'm Kikumaru, third year." He introduced himself.

"I'm Momoshiro, second year but just call me Momo-chan." Momoshiro grinned.

"You knew each other nya?" Kikumaru asked, curious. He could make a connection between ochibi's weird antics and the blond boy.

"Yes."

"At least you are more polite than _someone_." Momoshiro muttered, voice low but Ryoma could still hear it. Seeing Echizen's face's darkened Momoshiro quickly said. "So...you play tennis too?"

All eyes turned to Sakuya, and Ryoma could see that they were waiting in anticipation but said boy was merely smiling and didn't give any further information. Ryoma knew their reason too, since Sakuya was his acquaintance it seemed they were hoping for another tennis genius. And damn, they were right. Anyone related to him was definitely no normal tennis player.

Great. Just great. Ryoma resisted the urge to groan in frustration. What was Sakuya doing in here anyway? He just popped out all of sudden and now he registered to become a tennis club's member. What was Sakuya planning right now?

He definitely _had _to confront Sakuya later. Ryoma certainly didn't want to confront Sakuya in front of Seigaku's regular. He even didn't trust himself to speak right now because if there were someone who could make him say or do something out of his character that person had to be Sakuya. It was the effect the blond had on him. Sakuya knew him too well and vice versa.

Ryoma pulled his cap lower somehow he sensing that it was going to be a long day.

**Author's Note:**

Hi. As usual please give me reviews. Thanks. Anyway I normally don't like original character but for Ryoma I decide to create someone for him because honestly I don't think there is someone in the story that fit him. And all the words in bold means that Ryoma and Sakuya speak in English or Germany.


	4. Chapter 04

**Summer Scent**

Chapter IV

Ryoma glanced at his watch. 15 minutes again. 15 minutes until the break time will start. Why did it take so long? It felt like he had waited for hours. It was funny how time seemed to turn slower at a moment like this. He tapped his finger into the desk and stopped when he noticed one thing. Since when did he become so impatient?

He turned to look at his teacher who was busy explaining something, and Ryoma found out that it was very hard for him to concentrate on the lesson more or less what the teacher was saying. He tried hard...but it was useless anyway. He wondered if Sakuya was having the same problem with him now.

Ryoma's mind flew into previous moment. Soon after he entered his classroom, Horio didn't waste any time to tell him the latest news about the foreigner transfer boy and since both of him and Sakuya came from America, they would probably know each other. Oh yes, he knew him well, even too well.

He also found out from Horio that Sakuya was in the same class with Osakada. Knowing the girl and Sakuya, he wouldn't be surprised if Sakuya had managed to get everything out from her mouth. He had no doubt Sakuya would be laughing his head off if he heard about 'Ryoma-sama' and after that would be followed by some nasty comment. Normally he never paid any mind to those comments, opinions or attentions but this was special. Why, because this was Sakuya.

He was so intent on his thought that when the bell rang he barely noticed it.

"Ryoma-kun? Ryoma-kun?"

He turned and met with three pairs of confused eyes. "What?" he asked in a slightly annoyed voice.

"Do you want go to the cafeteria with us?" Kachiro hesitantly asked.

He blinked. It was already break time? How could he not realize it? "No, I have something to do." He got up and hurriedly walked away.

"What is wrong with Ryoma-kun today?" Kachiro asked.

"He looked distracted..." Katsuo commented.

"I wonder why..." Horio also joined them.

While three of them were busy speculating his attitude, said boy was heading to Sakuya's class.

"Ryoma-sama!" Osakada exclaimed soon after she saw him.

"**Hi Ryoma." **Sakuya greeted him.

"Hmm? Do you know each other?" Osakada asked, eyes darting from each other.

"We were friends." Ryoma answered.

"And since we haven't met for a long time, we have many things to talk about now, so...excuse us." Sakuya got up from his chair and followed Ryoma out.

"**Where are we going?"** Sakuya asked, breaking the silence.

"**The roof."** Came a simple answer.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Sakuya leaned onto the fence, staring down into the yard below him. Ryoma stood by his side. He could see the entire school from where he was standing. **"This place is so different from our school,**" he muttered.

"**You can't compare this place,"** Ryoma answered.

"**You're so tense."** Sakuya complained. **"Hey...Are you still mad at me?"** he asked.

"**Mad at you?"** Ryoma replied indulgently. "**If I remember correctly, you're the one who mad at me."** He said dryly.

The reason was because he left America and Sakuya wasn't too pleased with the idea. Actually the blond was totally pissed about it, and their last meeting ended with both of them argued about him ended up with Sakuya stalking away. They didn't talk after the bickering and Ryoma was already in Japan when he called Sakuya again. As he already guessed before, Sakuya wasn't very happy to hear the news, in fact the blond sounded like he was ready to strangle Ryoma to death.

"_**Hello?"**_

"_**Sakuya..."**_

"_**Ah Ryoma. I hope you called to tell me that you have cancelled your stupid plan." **__There, Sakuya had begun it. _

"_**I don't,"**__ he said matter in fact. __**"I'm in Japan now."**_

_A long silence dawned on them. __**"YOU'RE WHERE?"**__ Sakuya screamed._

After that what followed was Sakuya's speech of fury, and then he calmed down after a good fifteen minutes, but was still pissed off and still yelled angrily at him before there was a loud crash and the connection was off. There was no doubt that Sakuya had smashed his cell phone and destroyed it in process. The blond had a bad habit to throw anything he managed to hold when he was having one of his tantrums and Ryoma had witnessed many before.

It wasn't like he secretly went back to Japan without telling him. He told him the date and the time of the departure but Sakuya didn't show up at JFK International Airport. It was two months ago and they never contacted each other since, and now Sakuya suddenly showed up, in Japan nonetheless. What was going on in here?

"**It was your fault,"** Sakuya accused, bringing Ryoma out from his reveries. **"It was so sudden and you never told me anything."**

Ryoma tried not to argue with him now, tried and failed. **"Really? So it was my fault?" **he asked sarcastically. **"I wonder how it could be mine."**

"**It was in the past, right? Now I'm already here." **Sakuya said, completely ignoring Ryoma's sarcastic comment.

"**And why are you here?" **Ryoma asked, his voice tinted with curiosity.

"**Well, I'm here bec****ause you're here too."** He smiled mischievously.

"**Sakuya..."** Ryoma said in warning**. "I'm serious."**

"**And I was joking. Hey! I was just kidding." **Sakuya hurriedly corrected when he saw the older boy's face darkened. "**But Ryoma..."** he stared right into his eyes. **"It wasn't a lie."**

Ryoma didn't give any comment. Having known Sakuya for years, he knew Sakuya didn't lie, but he also knew Sakuya occasionally didn't tell him the whole truth. The blond had a hidden motive as to why he was here, that was one thing Ryoma was positive about and he had to find out, or else. It wasn't like he didn't feel happy seeing Sakuya here. He met with his best friend again, of course he was glad. But he wanted to know the reason.

"**Anyway...I'm really glad that we met again."** Sakuya's tone of voice was light, as if he was commenting about weather but he smiled sincerely at him.

Ryoma turned to look at the other direction and fixed his cap position. **"...Me too,"** he admitted, slowly and awkwardly. There was the usual reluctance in his voice, like he got whenever he was forced into confessing about a weakness, a contrast from his irritated face.

"**So...How've you been Ryoma?" **Sakuya suddenly asked. His voice carried an edge of curiosity and worry that surprised Ryoma more than his actual presence. It was so unlike Sakuya to ask something like that.

"**Fine."** He answered curtly. **"You?"**

"**I am...**," Sakuya paused for a while. "**I am** **fine although it was very boring without you." **The blond finally answered.** "Why don't you tell me about what you have been doing in Seigaku?"**

At this he turned and shot him a dirty look.

"**What?"**

"**Didn't the girl tell you everything?"**

Sakuya frowned. "**The girl? Oh! You meant her!"** The slow grin that spread across Sakuya's face may have looked cute and pleasant to any other people, Ryoma however knew better. "**Of course, she told me everything and I have to admit her story was very fascinating indeed especially about how often she praised 'Ryoma-sama'."** The last words were spoken in snicker.

"**Just shut up."** He gave him a death glare that would have made most people flinch. He didn't truly angry but Sakuya stopped however. Sakuya probably had the honor of being the only person who could tease him, and got response but he had his limit anyway.

Sakuya's grin diminished to a slight tugging at the corners of his lips. **"Ah, break time is almost over...**" he commented after an uncomfortable silence. His hand dug into his pocket and he pulled out something.

Ryoma eyed the Lindt Chocolate in Sakuya's hand. **"With all of those sweets you have eaten, it's kind of a miracle you don't weight three hundreds pounds."** He commented, breaking the silence. After all, he acted rather rude to Sakuya earlier whereas in reality he was really glad to have his old friend back.

"**I have fast metabolism."** Sakuya replied, taking a large bite of his chocolate. They headed back into one of their normal conversation.

**XXXX **

"Why didn't you tell us that you know Echizen before?" Horio demanded when he found out that they knew each other.

Sakuya only shrugged. "I didn't know that we were talking about the same person," he said casually.

"**Go ahead if you still want to have a chat here, but I'm leaving now."** Echizen interrupted then he strolled past them, hands tucked snugly in his pockets and the tennis bag already slung over his shoulder, obviously headed to the courts.

"**Ryoma****! Wait for me..."** Sakuya said before he walked after him.

Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo followed them, both party heading to the courts.

"It seems that Sakuya-san is Ryoma-kun's friend," Kachiro whispered.

"Yes," Katsuo nodded in agreement. "And it seems they are a close one." Then he frowned to see what Horio did. "What are you doing Horio-kun?"

"Argh!" Horio complained. "You two talk too loud. I couldn't hear what they are talking about." He tried to eavesdrop but failed.

"It's not like you will understand what they are saying, Horio-kun."

"Huh? Why?"

"They are talking in English." Katsuo pointed out.

"EHH?" Katsuo was right. They could hear the snippet of Echizen and Sakuya's conversation but everything was said in English. All of which could not be understood by them.

**XXXX **

The regular who hadn't met Sakuya was Inui, Kaidoh, Kawamura and Fuji. Kikumaru did the introduction in his cheerful manner. "Come here!" and he dragged the boy there. "Inui, third year, Kawamura, third year. They're all regulars."

"Hmm...Echizen's friend..." Inui muttered. "This is an interesting data, especially for the up coming regular selection matches." The others sweat dropped upon hearing his comment, but Sakuya seemed very interested in the topic.

"Regular selections match?" He echoed. "What is that?"

"It is a match which will decide whether you can become one of the regular, that is, if you win." Momoshiro explained.

"Wow! I want to join the match too. Does everyone join it?" He asked in a seemingly innocent manner, stirring the conversation to his benefit.

"Unfortunately, only second and third years can join." Oishi said.

"Why is that?"

" Seigaku tennis club has a lot of member, if everyone were to join the match, it would take much time and energy. Beside, the first years don't have the ability needed yet." Inui answered.

"But Ryoma is a regular." Sakuya pointed out.

Oishi and Inui exchanged glanced. "Echizen-kun's case is...different." Oishi finally said.

"How is his case different?"

"Well...that is because-" his words were cut off by Sakuya.

"Because Ryoma is a tennis prodigy, am I right?" Sakuya continued for him. "I have an idea then."

Everyone turned their attention.

"How about a test?"

Sakuya's words took the other member by surprise. They exchanged uncertain glances, wondering if the boy was serious.

"A test?" Oishi asked.

"Yes." Sakuya nodded. "A match between me and one of the regulars, if I could beat him it means I can join the regular selection match. So, what do you think?" he rested his hand against his hip in an arrogant and challenging manner that was a trademark of Echizen Ryoma.

Oishi was hesitate, he was the vice captain and while Tezuka wasn't here he was the one who took over his responsibility. Even though everyone (For example he could hear Kikumaru saying something like 'A game-nya! Interesting-nya!' and Momoshiro cheered on Sakuya) seemed to agree but this still broke the rule. Echizen's case was different since the boy was truly a prodigy and Tezuka supported him. Oishi was confused. This was a hard decision and he didn't know what to do. Only said no would not satisfy the other. What would he do then?

"Hey! What is going on in here?" a loud voice interrupted.

"Ryuzaki sensei!"

Ryuzaki sensei came to the court after she saw the commotion.

"Ano Ryuzaki sensei we just..." and then Oishi explained what had happened. "So now Sakuya-san wants us to hold a test, what do you think sensei?"

She digested the information before turned her attention from Oishi to the newcomer. "I'm Sakuya, Sakuya Rothstein. A new member," the boy introduced himself.

She looked at the blond in front of him, the face and the name were...familiar. It seemed she ever seen him before, but where? She thought hard then it clicked into her head, yes...she remembered that she ever read the articles about him in tennis magazine although she never saw his picture before because there was no available picture of the member of the House of Rothstein.

Her eyes moved from Sakuya to Ryoma then back to Sakuya again. A small grin slowly appeared on her face. The prince of tennis and him...interesting, this was very interesting. With both of them in Seigaku, who knew what would happen next?

"Fine." she finally agreed.

"Yes!" Sakuya said happily.

"But who are you going to face?" She asked.

"Is it ochibi?" Kikumaru questioned.

"Of course no." Sakuya shook his head, smiling mischievously. "What about you? Care to be my opponent?" he asked the person they least expected.

Momoshiro blinked. "What? ME? WHY?"

"Because you seem to be the strongest one here," Sakuya innocently replied.

Ryoma stared at the whole scene. Sakuya was being sarcastic again. Did Momoshiro realize that Sakuya was actually not praising him but the opposite? Apparently not, judged from his reaction. Really...Why most of people never realized that Sakuya was being sarcastic towards them? Must be because of his looks.

Next to him, Ryuzaki sensei's left eyebrow lifted a little. This boy... he sure acted like Ryoma…

"Really?" Momoshiro exclaimed. "Well fine then. Let me show you the best of Momo-chan!"

Sakuya smirked and turned to Ryoma, their eyes met for a split second. Sakuya winked at him before turned his attention to Momoshiro again. "Ryoma could be the referee," he suggested.

Ryoma didn't say anything but he walked into the court, Momoshiro and Sakuya followed him. Both of them took their position.

Outside the court, Oishi whispered to Ryuzaki sensei. "Sensei, is it okay for both of them to have a match?" a hint of worry laced in his voice.

She gave him a secretive smile. "Just watch, your answer will come by itself. And it is a good chance to see _his _ability."

Even though Oishi was confused, he chose not to show it.

Everyone was waiting in anticipation. Kikumaru was now busy trying to get Oishi to bet that who would win. Fuji still looked as calm and collected as always, and Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo also Sakuno and Tomo had their own private conversation, mostly consisted of Horio's 'how dare Sakuya-san challenge Momo senpai' and Osakada's defense of Sakuya. Inui was ready with his 'data' book, muttering something about 'the prefect data of Echizen Ryoma's friends' line. Kaidoh and Kawamura didn't say anything, but one thing that was clear. Everyone was curious.

"Momo senpai, we forgot to decide who the one is to serve first." Sakuya said.

"Eh! Well, since it's your game. You can serve first Sakuya-san." Momoshiro replied.

"Fine then."

At this Ryoma raised his hand. "One set match. Sakuya to serve!"

**Author's Note:**

Hi. As usual please give me reviews okay.


	5. Chapter 05

**Summer Scent **

Chapter V

Momoshiro was ready in the court. He didn't know why Sakuya asked him to be his opponent but he would show him the best. Momoshiro wasn't that stupid; for a first year student dared to challenge the regular and therefore the student was Echizen's friends had given him a sign. Sakuya must be had something in the store.

Even though Sakuya didn't, or hadn't yet, behave like Echizen, well...he meant that cocky and arrogant attitude when he first met Echizen, Sakuya in the contrary was quite friendly and nice, but he was still the opponent that you couldn't look down. There was something...a certain atmosphere around Sakuya that he couldn't decipher. But Momoshiro had learnt to trust his instinct, knowing that in tennis it could make a significance effect on the game.

He also noted that since Sakuya asked for test Echizen's expression was slightly changed and he kept looking at Sakuya. Was Sakuya that great that Echizen couldn't tear his eyes off of him or was it merely because Sakuya was his friend? Well...that's for him to find out, since the match was started.

Momoshiro focused his eyes and was caught off guard when he saw Sakuya's bright green eyes narrowed, and his expression changed.

Sakuya bounced the ball then threw it in the air and hit it. It was a serve that all of them knew to well.

"A twist serve?" Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro shouted in unison as the ball went in and hit the wall behind Momoshiro.

Needles to say, everyone was shocked.

"15-0." Echizen said, breaking the silence.

"Sakuya-san can do twist serve too," Sakuno exclaimed.

Inui fixed the position of his glasses. "American twist for precisely." He said.

"American twist? What is that?" Osakada asked.

"American twist is an advanced serve in which the racket strikes the ball with an upward and sideward motion causing the ball to spin during its flight and to take a high bounce, usually to the receiver's backhand." Inui explained.

"But...it seems that Sakuya's twist serve is more powerful than ochibi..." Kikumaru muttered.

"That's true." Fuji joined them.

"EHH? How it could be happening?"

"Because Echizen is left handed. He has to use his right hand against the right handed player but because he is left handed, the power is less than normal. If Echizen serves uses his left hand then he will use his full power." Inui, the ever data specialist explained to them.

Meanwhile inside the court the match continued.

Momoshiro stared at the blond. American serve, eh? It was beyond his prediction actually. But from now, he had to play more seriously. He swung his racket, making the ball flew over the net at an incredible speed. Sakuya ran to chase it.

"He is not going to make it," Oishi muttered.

"You are right-nya," Kikumaru agreed with him.

"Eh! Why senpai-tachi?" Katsuo asked.

But on the contrary of their prediction, Sakuya easily returned the ball and the ball hit the corner of the court.

"Eh!"

"How he did it nya? The ball was supposed out from his reach nya." Kikumaru asked in disbelief.

"Hmm...I see...Sakuya's racket is longer than the normal one." Inui muttered, hand busy writing on his data book. He had such a precious data to collect.

"Sakuya-san's racket is longer?" Kachiro asked.

"Really? I don't see the differences," Horio muttered.

"Sakuya's racket range from two inches longer than the standard 27 inch racket and it gives him definite advantages such as increasing serving accuracy by five percent per extra inch and you don't have to be a physicist to figure out the benefit of more reach, especially on shots that normally hit the top of the frame. And a player like Sakuya will gain even a bigger advantage than his taller opponent."

"Inui senpai really knows everything," Sakuno whispered in a low voice.

"As expected from Inui ne?" Fuji commented.

They didn't talk anymore, absorbed to watch the match. Momoshiro struggled in the game but it seemed that every move he did, Sakuya could read it and anticipated it. And in the end Sakuya was the one who won.

"Game set to Sakuya, 7 games to 6," Ryoma announced.

As the match over, the first person Sakuya approached was Ryoma.

Ryoma smirked at him. **"You weren't playing seriously, were you?" **

"**Observant as always, do you Ryoma? At least Momoshiro is a lot much better than my last opponent, he was so boring."**

"**Your last opponent?"**

"**Yeah, in that junior tournament. The match's very boring."** He scowled. "**I wonder what had possessed me to join that tournament."**

"**And what you did to him?"** He asked, although he could pretty guess what had happened.

Sakuya smirked back at him. "**I'm just playing like I always do."**

"**Hmph."** Ryoma was very aware of the implications of that. For he knew for sure, were Sakuya was serious Momoshiro wouldn't have a chance. The result was probably same if he was the one who played against Momoshiro. Yes, the score would be 6-0 for Sakuya.

_I'm just playing like I always do_...that only meant one thing; Sakuya had crushed his opponent again. The boy was as ruthless as ever especially when he was upset. Ryoma's eyes moved to the panting Momoshiro. And that was just an exercise for Sakuya.

Momoshiro was panting heavily as the match over but when he looked at Sakuya he noticed that the blond even didn't sweat at all. The blond was busy talking with Echizen and for the first time, he noticed that Echizen's eyes seemed softer and warmer than usual.

He shook his head and smoothed the hair on the sides of his head while sweat ran down his face. He recalled the match, even though Sakuya won with a narrow difference it seemed that...Sakuya was purposely holding back. Well, the blond easily read his moves and he could place the ball anywhere on the court. Or did he read too much? But why he had this nagging feeling?

Meanwhile Oishi and Ryuzaki sensei also had their private conversation. "So, what do you think Oishi?" Ryuzaki sensei asked.

"It was great Ryuzaki sensei. But..."

Ryuzaki sensei frowned. "What is it Oishi?"

"I feel that there is something not right with Sakuya-san's play. It just...I don't know how to explain it."

"Really?"

"Ano...never mind...just forget what I have said Sensei." Oishi said and excused himself, joining his team mates.

Ryuzaki sensei only stood at there, seemed deep in thinking. So Oishi also noticed it...Sakuya's greatest flaw...

Kikumaru was the first to reach Sakuya and Ryoma. "Yahoo!" he yelled. "Sakuya won nya!"

"Well...I lost." Momoshiro also joined them. Oishi was behind him.

"So this mean I can join the selection matches," Sakuya said, the way he spoke it made it a statement.

"Yes." Oishi nodded his head.

After that, all of the member gathered on the court, listening to Ryuzaki sensei's speech before the practice was over.

"Going home! Going home!" Kikumaru sang.

"I'm so hungry," Momoshiro complained. "Hey how about we go to McDonalds first?"

"Great idea Momo!" Kikumaru exclaimed.

"Fine with me." Oishi said. "How about you Sakuya-san?"

"No," he shook his head. "We have something to do." We meant him and Ryoma of course. Ryoma even already walked away. Sakuya hurriedly followed him then something clicked on his mind and he turned for the last time.

"Oh yeah...if I become regular and I will for sure then one of you will be kicked out. Do not forget that." Sakuya's green eyes twinkled as he teased his senpai. He flashed a grin to show he was joking, though he was telling the truth as well.

"Why you...!" Arai didn't like at all this newcomer's attitude. Fuji just chuckled lightly while Kikumaru and Momoshiro snickered.

On the other hand, Osakada had a very different reaction. "Sakuya-san is SO COOL!" she said huskily.

The other sweatdropped hearing it.

Then Sakuya turned a mischievous expression onto his dark haired companion. **"The same goes for you too."**

A smug grin was all he got in return from Ryoma. **"We will see who crushes who."**

**XXXXXX**

"**You are such a provocateur."**

"**I learnt from the best teacher."**

"**As far as I know you don't need anyone to teach you that." **He muttered.

"**It is true anyway." **

"**Are you coming to my house?" **He asked, seeing a smile come to those perfect lips.

"**Didn't I always?" **

That was true, as he recalled Sakuya spent much more time in his house rather than Sakuya's own house and the blond also only went home at weekend. Sakuya also barely met with his father since James Rothstein was busy with his business and as the CEO and the patriarch of the family who owned of the biggest oil corporation in the world he often went abroad.

But later Sakuya told him that his father suddenly started to spend much more time at home and began to question him. Where did he go? What did he do? The blond complained that those questions annoyed him to no end. He simply didn't understand but Ryoma knew Sakuya's father only wanted to get closer with his son. It would be a difficult task to do since Sakuya had become accustomed to be alone and 'independent' he hardly accepted his father's presence.

"**This place is quiet."** Sakuya commented as they were in way to his house.

"**Quiet?"** He raised an eyebrow.

"**Yeah...you know Manhattan is always an urban area except for Central Park."**

"**Isn't it just like your home?"** He replied. As he knew, Sakuya lived on exclusive and elite area, which the palatial houses there were huge, very huge indeed, with a capacious yard and quiet neighborhood.

Sakuya blinked. **"Well, I spent my school days in my apartment." **Yes, he knew that too. Their school was located in Manhattan, quite far from Sakuya's house. So from Monday to Thursday the blond stayed on his apartment at Park Avenue.

They finally arrived at his house and were greeted by a female voice.

"Ryoma-san, you brought a friend along with you."

They turned and found a long haired girl standing near the door.

"This is the first time you ever bring someone home." She smiled at Sakuya. "I'm Ryoma-san's cousin. Just call me Nanako." Whatever the feeling she had upon seeing his cousin bring a foreigner home she didn't show it at all but acted as friendly as always.

"Nice to meet you Nanako-san. I'm Sakuya."

"Enjoy your time here Sakuya-san." Then she excused herself.

"**This way,"** Ryoma led him to his room. When Sakuya entered Ryoma's room, the first thing he saw was a cat. It was a long fur Himalayan Spotted Cat. Curled up on Ryoma's bed, sound asleep with the catnip between its paws. Their presence in Ryoma's room woke up the cat.

"**Karupin!"** Sakuya called.

The cat meowed a greeting, leaping from the bed to rub with feline affection against Sakuya's leg.

"**Hello Karupin. Still remember me?"** He asked the cat, giving his chin a gentle tickle.

The cat purred an acknowledgment. Sakuya released Karupin and the cat climbed back into the bed and slept again. **"So you brought him here?"**

Ryoma only shrugged. "**I can't leave him behind in New York. You probably would kill me."** The last sentence was spoken in a mocking tone.

"**Yeah..."** Sakuya shot him an impish grin. **"Probably I would. He is a gift from me after all."**

"**So, how about my gift**?" Ryoma asked. A faint smile appeared on his face.

"**Coco and Cookie are fine. I take care of it carefully you know."** He replied. Coco and Cookie was a pair of read eared turtle that had been Ryoma's present to him on his last birthday. The gift itself however was a result of what he gave for Ryoma before. On 24th December he gave Ryoma cat and on 31th December he got turtles from the older boy.

"**You have an unhealthy obsession with sweets."**

The weird names came from Sakuya's addiction of sweets. If the words Coco and Cookie were combined, it literally meant chocolate cookies. When he commented about it, Sakuya simply said that he thought the names were funny. And when Sakuya commented about why he didn't give a cooler name for his cat he simply answered that Karupin was enough.

Ryoma still remembered the look on Sakuya's face when he found out what his present was. It was simply priceless.

"**It's so hot."** Sakuya complained.

"**I will get you a drink."** Ryoma said and went to the kitchen to get drinks, leaving the blond alone.

Sakuya felt a little bored so he walked to the bookshelf and inspected it. His fingers rested on the bookshelf, wandering along the various volumes there until something caught his attention. He fingered the thick volume at the corner of the bookshelf, the one book different from the rest. Sakuya took it out and smiled. It was a photo album.

He flopped unto the bed and opened the album, flipping it through the pages. All of the pictures were taken in America and various countries they visited during holidays. Half of it was a picture taken during a school's fieldtrip to visit New York Botanical Garden, Liberty Island, Metropolitan Museum of Art and several other places. Those pictures showed him and Ryoma who were dressed in black uniform with different pose.

His father was afraid that he would lose contact with his Japanese background since his mother's death so he decided to put him into an international school. The students there came from all over the world, mostly Europe and Asia. They were the children of a rich foreign entrepreneur or a diplomat.

There were many Japanese people in his class, including the daughter of Japan's ambassador and of course Echizen Ryoma. The boy had just moved from California due to his mother's work. That's how they first met before he found out that they had a common in tennis and many other things.

He flipped the pages again and smiled. The other half of the picture was his picture or his picture together with Ryoma taken in the various places they visited together. Sakuya stopped at one particular picture. It was his picture. His face was red and he looked flustered in the picture.

He remembered clearly how the picture was taken. It was begun when they watched a soccer game between Manchester United and Chelsea. Hey they're probably a tennis genius but they're also a normal teenager so they often watched soccer game or movie, much because he insisted it. Then the problem appeared by itself as they planned to have lunch after the game. He wanted to eat Kentucky fried chicken while Ryoma wanted to eat Japanese food. The problem was solved by a bet. If Manchester United won then they would go to have his favorite. Unfortunately for him, his favorite team lost. That was how he ended eating at Nobu. Well, he had connection so he could get into the restaurant without reservation first.

"_**Will you remind me why I'm here again."**_

"_**You lost the bet. That's it."**__ Ryoma simply said._

_He looked at the chopstick given by the waitress as if the thing came from Mars. _

"_**What? Are you going to eat or no?"**__ came the innocent question from the older boy. Ryoma ate his sushi calmly, eyes watching him. Amusement glittered on those hazel eyes._

_He glared at Ryoma but the teen sadly always immune to it. He tried to use the chopstick and as he could predict before, he failed miserably. Sakuya swore that Ryoma enjoyed the very moment. He could see laughter dancing in his eyes. He tried it three times again but his beef teriyaki kept falling from his chopsticks. He didn't like sushi anyway._

"_**It's enough!"**__ he snapped and started cursing when he saw a flash. He turned to face Ryoma and asked indignantly__**. "What did you do?"**_

"_**Nothing."**__ Ryoma answered casually, putting his iPhone back into his pocket. They both had just gotten their hands on the latest Apple product a few days ago._

"_**You took a picture!"**__ he accused as realization dawned on him. __**"Delete it now!"**_

"_**No."**__ Ryoma refused._

"_**Delete it!"**_

"_**No."**__ he told him in an astonished undertone._

"_**Ryoma..."**__ he whined._

"_**No means no."**__ Ryoma stated plainly._

He scowled at him at the moment but it was funny as he thought about it now.

"**Enjoy yourself?"**

He turned and found Ryoma, hand holding a tray of one glass of cold orange juice and chocolate tart.

"**Wow thank you! Ryoma, you're always the best,"** he said, smiling sweetly.

"**You're such a spoiled child, do you know that?"** Ryoma said, sounding rather nonchalant but the twinkle in his eyes belying the gravity of his tone.

"**All the time."** He replied and tasted the tart.** "Hmm...Sweet." **He pushed a long strand of hair out of his eyes, leaving a trail of chocolate cream down one cheek.

Ryoma leaned forward and wiped it away with handkerchief, then kissed the cheek. Ryoma's face was very close, his eyes was full of laughter. **"Welcome to Japan," **the older boy said.

"**Well..."** A glow lit his eyes, the green glowing positively incandescent. "**That was a warm greeting."**

"**It was."** Ryoma admitted.

Sakuya was about to reply when a very loud yell interrupted them. "WHAT? He brought a friend home! Where? In _HIS_ room? I have to see them!"

"Baka oyaji," Ryoma muttered.

A reluctant smile quivered at the edges of his mouth. **"Your father sure is energetic."**

Ryoma only sighed.

Loud footsteps could be heard approaching and they drew apart right before the door was slammed open. Nanjirou came in and his eyes scanned the room. His gaze fell into the newcomer. So he came here, eh?

"Hi Nanjirou-san." The blond greeted him.

"Sakuya...still as gorgeous as ever ne," he grinned.

"Oyaji..."

Nanjirou inwardly smiled seeing his son dark face. That boy sure was possessive. "What brought you to Japan?" he asked.

"Ryoma of course," he answered instantly. "I came to visit him."

"Souka...?"

"Nanjirou-san, I have come from far away, how if we play a game?" A wintry arrogance settled into Sakuya's tone.

Nanjirou took a quick glance at his son. The similar attitude and the similar personality were the reasons why Ryoma and Sajuya were so fond of each other. The other reason? He did not want to know. It wasn't his business anyway.

He focused his attention to the blond boy. "Want to play? Sure you can't beat me..." Nanjirou mocked him.

"We will see about that." Sakuya replied.

Even though Sakuya's ability was amazing and he even had managed to break past Nanjirou's defenses a few times he still lost at the end. With grimace he recalled his match in New York few days ago; it was like that, only reversed. This time he was the one who lost badly. The difference in their strength had been obvious.

Ryoma didn't say anything, during the match he only stood outside the court, observing the game quietly.

"What's up Sakuya?" Nanjirou asked. His gaze momentarily swiveled from Sakuya to his son. The blond was born with such a great talent, which probably rivaled his son. The only problem was...

"Ojisan, Ryoma-san, Sakuya-san, it's dinner time now," Nanako had come over the court and then said in scolding tone. "Playing tennis is good but you all have to eat."

"Really? That is great! I'm so hungry!"

Nanako smiled seeing Sakuya's antics. "Please, this way Sakuya-san." And she and Sakuya walked away, leaving Ryoma and his father in tennis court.

Nanjirou scratched his chin. "Dinner eh? I'm hungry too." And the unmistakable sound from his stomach proved his statement. He was about to walk away when Ryoma's suddenly said something.

"So...?" He turned to his father. "What do you want to say?"

"Eh?" Nanjirou faked a surprised look at his son, and then smirked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Stop playing fool oyaji." Ryoma's expression was serious, just as there was never a time when Ryoma was not serious about tennis; there was no time when he was not serious about Sakuya Rothstein.

"I really don't know what you're talking about." He walked past his son.

"Oi! Oyaji!"

Nanjirou turned and for once his face was serious. "Your dear friend plays like usual and that's not good...that is _if _he wants to play tennis seriously..."

Nanjirou inspected his son's face but it was impossible to tell what kind of expression Ryoma had on his face underneath that cap. Deciding to let his son to handle the problem, he turned and left.

**Author's Note:**

Hi. As usual please give me reviews. And no, unlike Ryoma, Sakuya didn't want to become professional tennis player. He only played because he was great on it, not because he loved tennis. And that was his flaw.


	6. Chapter 06

**Summer Scent**

Chapter VI

Momoshiro glanced at his watch. 6.30. Still early in the morning. And the brat probably hadn't woken up yet. The brat he meant was none other than Echizen Ryoma. Because their house was in the same way, they usually went to school together.

He arrived at Echizen's house at 6.40 and waited for about five minutes before he finally lost his patience and yelled loudly. "Oi! Echizen!"

A moment later the gate opened and revealed a longhaired girl whom Momoshiro recognized as Echizen's cousin. "Konnichiwa Nanako-san. Where is Echizen?"

"Ara? Ryoma-san and his friend had gone to the school."

"Ah hai." Wait a second, his friend? "His friend?" he echoed.

"Hai." The girl nodded. "Sakuya-san."

"Ah thank you."

"You're welcome."

As he rode his bicycle he still thought about it. Echizen and Sakuya went to school together? Well, probably Sakuya wanted to Echizen to accompany him. He never considered Echizen to be the type who would volunteer to do such a thing.

But then again he was not sure. Echizen seemed to treat Sakuya differently, as if Sakuya was...someone special. Maybe that was because they had known each other for a long time. Well, he had thought too much, probably both of them were practicing now. Because of that he was confused when he arrived at school and found no Echizen or Sakuya at tennis court.

"Oi! Momo! You're early today nya!" the ever cheerful Kikumaru greeted him.

"Kikumaru senpai did you see Echizen or Sakuya?"

"Huh?" a frown appeared on Kikumaru's face. "Nope, I didn't see them around nya."

"Souka?"

"Is there something wrong nya?"

"Eh? No Kikumaru senpai."

At the same time, in the roof Sakuya yawned for the umpteenth time. **"I'm so sleepy,"** he complained.

"**Who told you to get up so early in the morning?"** his companion retorted.

"_**Wake up! Ryoma...wake up!" **_

_Even though Sakuya shook his body roughly, he didn't intend to wake up at all, that was of course before he felt addition weight on his body. Reluctantly he opened his eyes and met with a pair of blazing green. Their faces were so close he could feel Sakuya's warm breath. _

"_**...heavy."**_

"_**Eh?"**_

"_**Get off! You're heavy."**_

"_**No. I am not**__!" Sakuya protested indignantly. _

_He rolled Sakuya's body so Sakuya was underneath him now. __**"Yes you are,"**__ he stated before kissed Sakuya lightly on lips and got up from bed. __**"What the heck! It's only five in the morning!"**_

"_**I know,**__" Sakuya replied solemnly._

"_**Then why you woke me up?"**__ He grumbled. _

"_**I can't sleep. Accompany me?"**_

"**And now you're complaining."** He scowled at him.

"**But I never get up this early,"** Sakuya protested. "**Only my father-"** he stopped for a few moments. **"Only my father who always wake up early."** He finished.

"**What did he say about your moving to here?"** he asked.

For anyone else, it was the forbidden topic. Sakuya never talked about his father or his family. He never bragged that he came from the wealthiest family in the world. Every time people tried to talk about this, he would change the topic. Sakuya was incredibly secretive about his life even though it seemed he always was talking. Exception for him of course, he knew everything about Sakuya. Everything there was to know.

"**He was against it at first but he agreed later,"** he shrugged. **"I bet he already forget this and now is somewhere in London, Hong Kong, Vienna, Dubai or Riyadh, talking about the high price of oil."** There was no emotion in his face or in his voice. For him, his father was a virtual stranger who descended on the house at infrequent intervals.

Their conversation was cut sort by the ringing of the bell and they went to their class. They met again at lunchtime.

"Hey! That is Echizen! Over here Echizen!" Horio waved his hand, motioning the boy to join him, Kachiro and Katsuo since their table was the only empty table there.

Echizen had just sat down when a voice squealed. "Ryoma-sama!" Osakada dragged Sakuno towards their table and sat there too.

Kachiro eyed Echizen. As he knew, Echizen didn't like coming to the cafeteria. Too crowded and too noisy, the genius complained. And speaking of it, he didn't see Sakuya too, that's weird since Echizen and Sakuya were always together. Where was the blond then?

He got his answer as a familiar voice interrupted them. "Hey guys!"

They turned and found Sakuya walking towards them with an armful of bread and cake. When he reached them, he chose to sit next to Echizen.

"You sure eat a lot," Horio muttered, eyeing the food.

Sakuya didn't reply, instead he took one of the breads that was different from the other and gave it to Echizen.

"What's that?" Katsuo asked.

"Egg pudding."

"Egg pudding?"

"That's Ryoma's favorite." Sakuya explained.

"Wow! I never knew that Ryoma-sama likes egg pudding." Osakada said.

Echizen suddenly got up from his chair.

"Ryoma-sama?"

He ignored their questioning look. "I will get a drink," he muttered and walked away. He came back moments later with one can of grape Fanta and one bottle of orange juice. "For you," he said, handing the latter to the blond.

"Thanks." Sakuya said.

Sakuno and Osakada exchanged glance. "You sure know a lot about each other," Osakada remarked.

Sakuya shrugged. "That's what friends are for," he said. "We're supposed to know each other's likes and dislikes."

They spent the lunchtime eating and talking although Echizen was quiet as usual and Sakuya did the talking.

As the school was over, Sakuno Ryuzaki went to school back yard to practice tennis. She was alone since Tomoka had cleaning duty. She was too focused in her practice that she didn't notice there was someone watching her.

"Practicing alone?"

She turned at to the source of the voice. "Sakuya-san," she greeted the blond. "Uhm...yes...Tomo-chan has cleaning duty today."

"Your technique is good. You only need to do more practice." Sakuya commented. He had been watching for a while. "Who teach you?"

"Ano...it's Ryoma-kun." She said, blushing heavily.

This made Sakuya raised his eyebrow. "Ah really?" he said in a perfectly ordinary voice. He studied her face intently and asked. "You like him, don't you." The way he spoke made it a statement, not a question.

"Ehhh?" Sakuno was taken aback and she turned into various shade of red. "I...uh..." she sputtered. She really didn't know what to say. For God's sake Sakuya was Ryoma friend! Sakuya only looked at him with knowing eyes. She knew he had seen through her, but what if he told Ryoma about it?

Her grip on her racket tightened and she kept fidgeting with her racket strings that Sakuya frankly had some trouble to keep from saying, 'stop that, it already annoy me.'

As if he could sense her stress, the blond quickly assured her. "Don't worry I won't tell him about your crush." _As if he_ d_oesn't know yet_... was the unvoiced thought. Ryoma was the most perceptive person he ever met.

Sakuno sighed in relief and then almost got heart attack as a very loud voice interrupted them. "Nah! What are you talking about?"

She spurned around. "TOMO-CHAN!"

Osakada Tomoka grinned. "So...did Ryoma-sama have a girlfriend in America?"

"TOMO-CHAN!"

"So?" She purposely ignored her and focused on the blond. She had eavesdropped their conversation and inwardly sighed, poor Sakuno, she really needed someone's help.

Sakuya resisted the urge to laugh. _And they say Japanese girls are shy...she is bold for sure_. "No, he didn't." he said, managing to keep his face straight.

"Does Ryoma-sama like someone?" she pressed more.

But Ryuzaki Sakuno couldn't stand it anymore. "Tomo-chan! It's enough! We shouldn't ask that!"

"Why not?"

There was argument for a few moments then Osakada sighed in defeat. "Fine! You won! Geez..."

Sakuno, the ever shy and polite girl, felt that it was improper for them to ask about it though she couldn't deny the fact that she really wanted to know.

Tomoka turned to Sakuya. "So, do you have a girlfriend Sakuya-san?" Hey! If she couldn't ask about Ryoma-sama that didn't meant she couldn't ask about Sakuya.

"No," the answer came in instant. "But I have someone who I like." Now he smiled.

"Really? Who is she?"

"That is a secret." The smile grew wider. "But I met that person long time ago. When I was a child."

"Ano...does she know that you like her?" the question came from the quiet girl. Even Sakuno herself was surprised that she actually said those words. Somehow, she found a similarity between her case and Sakuya's case and she simply had to know.

"We never talk about it."

"Eh? Why?" Tomoka demanded.

"And I don't think that we need to talk about it either," Sakuya continued.

"How come?"

Sakuya shrugged. "We understand each other and that is enough..." he hesitated and the girls thought he was going to say more; instead he smiled at them so charmingly that they felt a distinct stab of regret when he excused himself and left.

Sakuya turned at the corner and found Echizen Ryoma. The older boy was leaning against the brick wall, arms folded in his chest. Face emotionless as always.

"**Interesting conversation,"** he said, his English was spoken effortlessly without the slightest hint of Japanese accent.

Sakuya smirked. "**She likes you, you know."**

"**Really? And what happens with 'I will not tell him' part?"** he retorted, the tone of his voice leaving no doubt about his sarcasm.

"**Please, even a blind people could see that she likes you," **he replied sarcastically.

There was a brief pause. **"So...'we never talk about this,' eh?"**

"**And I don't think that we need to talk about this either."**

'_Because we understand each other and that is enough...'_

"**Hmph...whatever,"** Ryoma said.

But as they walked to the tennis court, Sakuya couldn't help wondering about the previous moment. They understood each other, was it enough? Or was it not?

**XXXX**

"Isn't that Ochibi's clothes?" Kikumaru asked, pointing at Sakuya's white and red polo shirt that Echizen used to wear.

"Yes, it is." Sakuya said. "We're about the same size."

"How come you wear Ochibi's clothes?" he asked, frowning.

"I stayed at Ryoma's house yesterday," he answered casually.

Next to him, Echizen didn't say anything. His face was as expressionless as always. And judged from his attitude, one could say this was not a new thing for him.

Momoshiro looked at them curiously, he ever came to Echizen's house to play tennis but it only stopped that far. As he and everyone knew, the freshman was incredibly private person. They must be really close then and he couldn't help but wonder about their life in United States...yeah...Echizen never talked about this. Maybe he could ask Sakuya...

"Boys!" Ryuzaki sensei called. Well...maybe he could ask the blond later.

They gathered at the court and then ran 20 laps for warming up before gathered again.

"Today we're going to have a practice match," Ryuzaki sensei announced.

"Wow!"

"Sugoi ne!"

"Between who and whom?"

Ryuzaki sensei coughed and everyone went silent. "A double game, Echizen and Sakuya against Oishi and Kikumaru."

"WHAT?"

"Echizen plays double?"

"And that is versus Golden Pair?"

"What is Ryuzaki sensei thinking about?"

This was understandable since all of Seigaku's tennis club member still remembered clearly what happened when Echizen Ryoma played double. He might be a tennis genius but he simply did not fit playing double. How could the selfish Echizen cooperate with his double partner? It's a mission impossible in their opinion.

"0-1. Kikumaru-Oishi leads." Kawamura said. He was the referee.

"I knew it!" Horio exclaimed. "It is impossible for Echizen to play double."

"Ssh. Don't talk too loud Horio-kun," Katsuo said, covering his friend mouth.

"HMPH!"

Nevertheless, they still could hear the high-pitched voice. **"This starts to annoy me,"** Sakuya grumbled**. "Isn't it about time we stop playing around?" **

Ryoma turned and a look of perfect understanding passed between them.

"**So have you found it?" **the blond asked.

He nodded. **"They have two weaknesses."**

"**Actually they have four weaknesses**." Sakuya grinned.

"**Four?"**

"**Yeah, let me show you."** He winked at him.

Sakuya took stance at the baseline. He tossed the ball and hit it with unbelievable strength even though it was just a normal serve not his American twist. Sakuya didn't have any special move, only his American twist, although he was famous of _that_. He simply mastered everything.

The ball flew over the net and Oishi returned it, just like his prediction. His mouth had quirked into a cocky grin. _Yup! Smash right into the corner!_ As expected, Oishi failed to return his smash. **"That's the third weakness."**

He served the ball again. This time the ball fell near the baseline. Kikumaru failed to hit it back. **"And that's the fourth."**

Ryoma smirked. "Mada mada dane." Sakuya, as he recalled, possessed an uncanny ability to access opponent's strong points and flaws with pinpoint accuracy. And it was a skill he exploited with ruthless disregard. Meanwhile he possessed outstanding control over his racket speed and angle. Aided further by superior anticipation and unusually quick movement, he could subtly dictate the momentum and the direction of the game. That combined together had made them number one double for junior in America.

Outside the court, Seigaku regular also had their discussion.

"Their style abruptly changes." For the first time, Kaido spoke.

"They used the first set to analyze their opponent's weakness."

"But I never thought Sakuya would be the first server." Inui said.

"Yeah...me too."

"Huh? What's wrong with that?" Osakada asked.

"In typical doubles match, you and your partner decide which one who will serve first. Usually, this is tactical decision since most of doubles teams' want the stronger server to serve first." Ryuzaki sensei inserted.

"Do you notice that Sakuya never changes his form but why he can place the ball anywhere in the court?" Momoshiro interrupted. It was a trick he had fallen to yesterday.

"The change of timing." Fuji said.

"He can play down the line or crosscourt off the identical stance and seemingly identical swing, directing the ball either left or right by a subtle change in timing." Inui added.

'So he was holding back yesterday' that was what Momoshiro had on his mind. His eyes met with Ryuzaki sensei's and she nodded understandingly at him.

Momoshiro ever became Echizen's double partner but it was clear for him and for anyone that their play was...bad. The genius couldn't play double, it was he and everyone had on their mind but looked at the boy now. He saw both Echizen and Sakuya retreated to the backcourt in order to maintain their parallel formation. He smirked. That brat...Echizen only needed a right partner.

No one talked anymore since they're absorbed in the match. In the middle of the match Oishi and Kikumaru even used Australian Formation.

Sakuya was ready to serve then he stopped in the middle. **"Heh...they change their style. It's called..."**

"**Australian formation."** Ryoma finished for him.

Sakuya put his right hand on his hip and cocked his head to the left, observing the situation. Australian formation, the arrangement located the net player in perfect position to intercept the receiver's normal cross-court return. Forcing the receiver to adjust and to make a weak return. Good decision, especially since Kikumaru was also a net player.

_**To any other double pair the tactic might work but to go against us?**_ Sakuya smirked. _**You have to be kidding!**_ And he served the ball.

Australian Formation didn't help much. Echizen and Sakuya were obviously stronger and better players.

"6-1. Game won by Echizen-Sakuya!" Kawamura announced.

There were murmurs around the court.

"I can't believe it!"

"It is impossible!"

"Golden Pair lose? But how...?"

"And it's 6 to 1!"

Osakada and Sakuno had quite a different reaction. They cheered happily. The same went for a bunch of girls who watched the match too.

Sakuya shook his head. **"Girls...they always like arrogant and cool type like you. No wonder you also have a lot of fans here,"** Sakuya said, indicating to the girls from woman tennis club who had cheered on them since the match began.

Ryoma gave a small snort.

"**But of course I am your number one fan."** He slanted him a humor filled glance. "**They may like you but Ryoma is mine only,"** he said with brutal honesty.

Ryoma only shrugged. There was no change on his facial expression. He didn't care of what the blond said. There was nothing to deny anyway.

"Well done Echizen, Sakuya." Ryuzaki sensei approached them with Inui behind her.

"You have provided me such a precious data, Echizen and Sakuya-san," Inui said.

Ryuzaki sensei chuckled lightly. "So, what do you think of them Inui?"

"They are perfect pair, even much better than Golden Pair. Added with Sakuya's ability to read opponents flaws and Echizen's control over his racket."

This was good to hear, since Seigaku was quite vulnerable in its doubles. They probably had a Golden Pair but if they face a team that was strong enough...that would be a problem. Just like what had happened in a match against Rikkaidai. Golden Pair had lost. Inui turned at Ryuzaki sensei. It seemed she purposely arranged the match. So she had known about this, eh?

"As expected from the double male winner of American Junior Tennis Tournament for three times in row," she said, grinning.

"What?" Momoshiro was surprised.

"YOU'RE WHAT?" Kikumaru exclaimed.

Ryuzaki sensei only smiled. "Echizen and Sakuya is number one pair in America. Since their debut three years ago they never lose, not even once."

"Nya! You cheated! How come you never told us before?" Kikumaru demanded. He had just joined them.

"You never ask." Echizen easily replied.

"WHAT!" Kikumaru exploded." How could you ochibi?"

"Ma ma...stay calm Eiji," Oishi said, trying to refrain his energetic friend.

As tennis practice ended, Ryoma, Sakuya and Momoshiro went home together. They met with Tachibana Ann in the street. "Oh Seigaku regular," she spotted them.

"Oi! Tachibana imouto!" Momoshiro saw her too.

"Hi!" she greeted them then her gaze fell to Sakuya. "And you're..."

"Sakuya."

She was struck by the blond way of speaking, precise yet musical and with a faint accent she couldn't decipher.

"I'm Ryoma's friend from America," he continued. That had explained the accent and his look.

"I'm Tachibana Ann. Nice to meet you."

"So, where are you going Ann-san?" Momoshiro asked.

"I'm going to have lunch at the new café over there. How if we have lunch together?"

Momoshiro snapped his fingers. "Hey! That's a great idea."

"We're in too." Sakuya said.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. He could see the similarity between Sakuya and Momoshiro. As long as it's about food, two of them were in high spirit.

The new cafe Tachibana Ann mentioned was a western cafe. It served western food only.

"Your order?" the waitress asked.

"One sirloin steak, one boneless chicken steak and double large French fries." Ryoma said, giving both his order and Sakuya's.

"And for dessert I want..."

He cut Sakuya's words. "Yes, yes, I know. Chocolate cake, right? And for orange juice and grape juice."

The waitress wrote down their order and walked away.

He turned around and saw Sakuya staring at him. "You're really weird you know," the blond blurted out.

"I am weird?"

"Yes. When in America you insisted that we ate Japanese food but now in Japan you want to eat western food."

"And how about you?" he retorted.

Sakuya blinked. "What about me?"

"In America you talked in Japanese but now you always talk in English."

"**That's because I don't like it if people know what I'm saying." **He said in English. **"Or, do you prefer if we speak in Germany?**" he teased him.

Ryoma, while capable of reading, understanding, and speaking Germany, didn't quite master the ability to write it proficiently yet. The main reason why he could speak Germany fluently was because Sakuya was German descent and in their family they always spoke in Germany. It was like in his family his oyaji always insisted they spoke in Japanese.

The return of the waitress effectively put a halt to their conversation.

"Hmm...this cake is delicious!" Sakuya exclaimed after the cake was served. "Here, try some." He held out a forkful of cake to Ryoma. Ryoma moved forward and ate the cake while Sakuya held onto the fork. They completely ignored two pair of wide eyes. "It is delicious, right?"

"Mada mada dane."

"You're suck." Sakuya said but he laughed at the same time.

"So...how long have you two known each other?" Ann asked, after the scene. Momoshiro still hadn't found his voice back due to the shock. It was not everyday he could see the self centered and the selfish Echizen Ryoma being fed by someone.

"About seven years I think..." Sakuya answered. "Since Ryoma moved from California."

"So you became friends since then?" Momoshiro asked, finally recovered from his shock.

"Since the biology assignment." For once, Ryoma joined the conversation.

"_For this biology assignment, we will work in group." Miss Carter, their biology teacher announced then she turned to him. "Mister Echizen, you don't have a group yet. Hmm, let me see..." she flipped the paper. "You joined Rothstein then."_

"_You mean the girl over there?" he asked._

_Carter's face changed and she unsuccessfully held her laugh. "Boy, Mister Echizen." She said. "Although I have to admit that he looks like a girl."_

Ryoma felt stupid at that time. Sakuya was androgynous name; it could be a boy or a girl. But when he saw his face, he assumed Sakuya was a girl. Sakuya looked exactly like his late mother, he found out this later. And that was the beginning of their friendship. Fortunately Sakuya never found about the 'incident.'

"Yeah...since then...but come to think of it I wonder why Miss Carter always had a funny face whenever she saw me." Sakuya muttered.

Ryoma almost choked on his drink but remained unruffled. They still talked and he had a faint smile on his face as he listened to their lively conversation and joined in with occasional remarks. Tachibana Ann knew a lot about tennis and with Momo senpai the conversation was quite interesting.

They had just finished their meal when Sakuya said something. "I swear that the waitress over there keep looking at me."

"That's because you look like a foreigner, Sakuya-san." Momoshiro explained as they left the restaurant.

"I never knew that Japanese people are that fascinated by a foreigner."

Inside the restaurant.

"Yumi! Oi Yumi!" she had called her friend a few times and got respond.

"Huh? What's up Kyoko?" she asked her colleague. They were in the same college and had a part time job as a waitress.

"What's up? I should be the one who ask that." She retorted. "What're you thinking?"

"Nothing, but did you see the gaijin girl with her boyfriend earlier? She is so pretty."

"Yumi, that gaijin is a boy, not a girl!"

"EH! Really? That's weird," she muttered. "I could have sworn they're lovers. She even fed him cake!"

Kyoko sweatdropped. "I think you read yaoi manga too much that it affect your mind."

"What is that suppose to mean?" she asked indignantly.

"Hey! It was a joke."

"Geez..." but she laughed and Kyoko joined her too.

"Oh! I almost forgot something!" Ann suddenly exclaimed.

"What it is?" Momoshiro asked.

"You know...tomorrow there will be a summer festival in the park."

"Summer festival?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Do you want to go then?"

**Author's Note:**

Hi. It's me again. As usual please give me reviews okay.


	7. Chapter 07

**Summer Scent**

Chapter VII

"Have we bought anything we need?" Ryuzaki Sakuno asked.

Tomoka turned. "Hmm...let me see." She inspected their trolley. "Butter, flour, sugar, milk, vanilla, and brown sugar. Yup! We have everything," she said in affirmative.

Right now, they were in convenience store near Sakuno's house to buy ingredients to make egg pudding. Now, one probably wondered what had caused this sudden urge. It was begun with one normal conversation at break time.

"_What's that?" Katsuo asked._

"_Egg pudding."_

"_Egg pudding?"_

"_That's Ryoma's favorite," the blond explained._

_So, from there, they knew that Ryoma liked pudding but the decision to make pudding for the freshman emerged when they accidentally caught little snippets of their senpais conversation. _

"_So I made a bento for him," the girl said proudly._

"_Did he like it?"_

"_Of course," her friend retorted. "I made it to show that I like him!"_

_And from that Tomoka finally got a conclusion. "That's it!" she suddenly exclaimed, surprising her best friend. "You are going to make a pudding for Ryoma-sama!"_

"_EHHH?" Sakuno blushed. "But-"_

"_There is no but!" she ignored her protest. "I will help you okay!"_

_She liked Ryoma of course, but not in that kind of way, it was like fans idolized their idol. It was different with Sakuno though. It was plain to her and for everyone else that Sakuno liked Ryoma, truly liked him, but it was also plain that Ryoma didn't notice her at all._

"3780 yen," the cashier said, jerking Tomoka out of her reverie.

Sakuno paid for it and they left the store. As they walked to her house, Sakuno couldn't help but thought if she had done the right thing by following Tomoka's advice. They arrived at her house and headed to the kitchen. Tomoka help her placing the ingredients she needed on the kitchen counter. She also helped her to make the pudding. Well...Tomoka read the instructions and she followed it.

"What's next?" she asked after everything was done.

"Hmm...place the pudding dish in a pan of water and bake for forty minutes."

Sakuno did as she was told.

Forty minutes later.

"So, what do you think?" Sakuno asked, eyeing her friend warily.

"Hmm...this is delicious!" Tomoka commented after she swallowed one bite of the pudding. "I am sure Ryoma-sama is going to love it."

"Uhm...do you think so?" she asked nervously.

"Of course!" Tomoka gave her a warm smile of reassurance.

With that Sakuno felt relieved. But she had forgotten one crucial thing, and that was how to give the pudding to Ryoma properly. She had been contemplating of various and different ideas, with no good result. She didn't want to give it to him in front of her classmates and her friends especially Horio. Kachiro and Katsuo wouldn't say word since they were an understanding type but Horio...she dreaded to think about him.

How about break time? Well...when break time Ryoma disappeared into nowhere with Sakuya. They were inseparable, she noticed it, and where there was Ryoma there was Sakuya there too.

And after the school ended, she still got no chance to give him the pudding. Sakuno sighed, wondering if she should give up. Beside that, this act alone was something very alien to her nature, for she was a reserved and quiet girl.

So engrossed she was on her thinking that she didn't see someone walking towards her and she bumped into that person.

"Gomen nasai!" she apologized but then stopped dead on her track. Talked of the devil and he was bound to appear. The person she bumped into was none other than Echizen Ryoma and for once, much to her surprise; he was alone, without Sakuya.

Ryoma stared at her blankly before he started to walk away.

"Ah! Wait!"

Ryoma turned and fixed her with his usual nonchalant gaze but despite of his general air of coldness she knew Ryoma was a kind person. He ever taught her and Tomoka how to play tennis and he also helped her many times.

"What?" he asked impatiently.

"Ano...this is for you Ryoma-kun," she said, blushing heavily. "I-I...," she hesitated, for Ryoma was staring at her, and searched desperately for an excuse, wishing at the same time that she could stop blushing like a silly girl whenever he spoke to her. "I made a pudding and I heard you like it...so this is for you."

Ryoma stared at her. "Thank you," he said at last.

Sakuno could feel her face brightened. "Enjoy it Ryoma-kun," then excused herself, couldn't wait to share the news with Tomoka.

Ryoma only stared at the box in his hand then turned and walked to the locker room, taking the box along with him. The only people in locker room were Oishi, Kikumaru, Momoshiro and Kaidoh. Kikumaru was the first to notice the box in his hand.

"What is that ochibi?" he questioned.

"Egg pudding," he said nonchalantly.

"Wow! You bought a lot, didn't you?" Momoshiro asked, eyeing the size of the box.

"I didn't buy it. Ryuzaki gave it to me."

And the room exploded.

"WHAT?" Kikumaru and Momoshiro shouted in unison.

"Ryuzaki Sakuno gave it to you?" Oishi asked.

"Way to go ochibi!" Kikumaru said, thudding him on his back. Much to his annoyance.

_She is fast. _Momoshiro thought the shy girl would do nothing to show her affection to Echizen yet Echizen didn't seem affected by this. In fact, Echizen really didn't notice it. Echizen was always a perceptive one but aside from tennis, was the freshman that oblivious?

On the contrary, Ryoma was well aware of Sakuno's feeling about him. He knew that girl had a crush on him. Sakuno was a nice girl but he just wasn't into her. This egg pudding thing surprised him though but he didn't worry at all. As long as he kept playing oblivious her feeling would fade someday, the sooner the better.

From the corner of his eyes he caught the look Momo senpai was giving to him. He knew exactly what his senpai was thinking now. People thought he was dense in this kind of matter. But he wasn't. He knew what emotions Sakuya stirred up inside him were. His relationship with Sakuya evolved step by step over the years. It started out as a classmate. It ended as a deep and warm friendship...and something much more than that.

The door opened and Sakuya came in.

"Nya! Sakuya! Look at this! Ochibi got a pudding from Ryuzaki!" Kikumaru said enthusiastically.

Sakuya moved his eyes from Kikumaru to him. "So my dear Ryoma got an admirer here," he said in a teasing tone.

"Don't you know," Momoshiro declared, "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Kikumaru snickered while Oishi blinked. "I never knew you are this deep Momo," their vice captain said. Kaidoh gave a sound regrettably like a snort.

"I don't think so," Sakuya muttered quietly.

They all turned to look at him. Smiling wickedly, the blond continued, "The way to a man's heart is through his bed."

The responds to his statement were quite different. While Oishi attempted to keep a straight face Kaidoh just about managed to stop his jaw dropping. Momoshiro had gone into a coughing fit and Kikumaru's eyes were as wide as a saucer. Ryoma however, was emotionless as ever, seeing as he was too accustomed by the blond's antics.

"What?" Sakuya asked innocently. "Did I say something wrong?"

"'_Did I said something wrong?'_" Momoshiro repeated. "Of course you did!" Did Sakuya not realize the implication of his words?

Then out of blue, Sakuya burst out laughing. "I was only kidding. It was a joke. You should see your face earlier. It's truly ridiculous!"

"It was a joke?" Kikumaru asked. He was dumfounded by the blonde's remark.

Sakuya nodded, still laughing.

Momoshiro shook his head and took a deep breath. Man! He would never understand American sense of humor.

"You almost gave me a heart attack nya!" Kikumaru grumbled while Oishi sighed in relief.

"You really got me there," Kaidoh muttered, with a shake of his head.

Momoshiro eyed the box once more time and then sighed. "It must be nice if someone make a food for me," he said, almost dreamingly.

"You could ask Ann to do that," Sakuya suggested. "You met her yesterday."

"What!" Momoshiro sputtered. "Why her?"

"Heh. So it's true nya," Kikumaru snapped his finger. "You like Tachibana imouto nya!"

"WHAT?" Momoshiro turned red.

Kikumaru eyed him suspiciously. "You met her yesterday, didn't you?" he said in a suggestive tone.

"Echizen and Sakuya were with us too!" Momoshiro retorted.

"Oh. I don't know Momo senpai," Ryoma had decided to play along to, mostly because he wanted to take revenge. "She called you first, right?"

"WHY YOU! I don't need to hear this from you guys!" and he escaped outside.

"Wait! Don't run away Momo!" Kikumaru chased him. He obviously didn't want to lose the opportunity to tease his poor kouhai.

"EIJI!" Oishi followed him. Kaidoh was the last to walk out. He, too, didn't want to miss the chance to watch this 'little drama.' So the one left in locker room was only them.

Sakuya turned to him, eyes bright with mischief. "She gave you a pudding?" he asked. "Hmmm...this isn't bad. It's delicious actually," the blond commented after he ate one slice of it.

"If the way to man's heart is through his stomach, then you are in a deep trouble Sakuya."

"Huh? The way to man's heart is through his stomach? What a crap. This is 21st century," Sakuya shrugged carelessly. "You can cook for yourself Ryoma and..." here he paused. "And at least I know how to please you in bed."

He stared at Sakuya blankly for a split second before smirked. For certain reason, the blond really liked to tease him but the feeling was mutual because he also teased Sakuya every time he got a chance. Just like now. Well...two could play this game.

"As I recall, you do nothing but lie like a corpse on the bed," he replied. It was a joke, based on the fact that even though Sakuya liked to provoke him with seductive words and gesture, when it came to real matter, the blond was calm, almost submissive even, with none of the hypertensity he usually exhibited.

"Hey! I resent that!" Sakuya retorted in a feigned hurt voice. "I never hear you complain before," he paused then, his mocking smile widening. "And as I recall, you always come back into my arms."

"You know, you are unbelievable Sakuya," he muttered beneath his breath. If his ecchi father heard him and Sakuya talking about these things so casually and so freely as if they were discussing about weather, he would never live it down.

When he voiced his thought, Sakuya erupted into laughter. "You're right," he managed to say between his laughter. "Hey! Do you still remember the 'souvenir' I bought in Paris for him?"

He shook his head. "You called that 'souvenir'? You are nuts." Even so, Ryoma really enjoyed the moment when his father's face went pale as he opened the package and saw what the contents were. "He desperately tried to hide it from my Mom's eyes."

"Well, I think it worth the effort," Sakuya mused. "That idiot at the bookstall didn't allow me to buy it first."

"You are still underage to buy such a thing," he pointed out. "He would be caught if someone found out that he sold it to you."

Ignoring the last sentence, Sakuya gave him a look. "I'm still underage? Coming from you, that's a bit hypocrite, isn't it? Beside that I'm going to be fifteen this December."

"Ehm." a voice interrupted them.

Ryoma and Sakuya turned and found Oishi standing at the doorway. "The practice is about to begun," he said. He came to call them since they both hadn't showed up while the other members already gathered in the court. He found them still talking but since they talked in English he couldn't make it out.

"Okay."

Echizen and Sakuya walked out. He followed them from behind, couldn't help but remembered about yesterday's match. It was a total loss and he couldn't remember when the last time he and Kikumaru were beaten so easily. Despite that, Oishi also felt relieved; with Sakuya now Seigaku would have a strong double pair. Echizen was unbelievable strong but to have another equally strong tennis player…nobody ever predicted this before.

The tennis practice went off like usual and it ended about 6 p.m. to which Sakuya complained. "It's almost 6 p.m. Can we go home now?"

"The practice ends at 6, Sakuya-san," Fuji informed him.

"Six! This is even worse than our school."

"Your school?" Momoshiro questioned.

"Yeah, in our school club's activity ends at 5 p.m."

"Hey! Tell me about it. Ochibi never tell us the story about his life in America nya!"

"Yeah right," Momoshiro supported the idea. He had been thinking of this since yesterday but since there was a practice match, he forgot it at all.

Ryoma only shrugged. "You never ask."

"'We never ask'?" Kikumaru asked incredulously.

"And I suppose if we ask, you will tell us about it." Momoshiro asked sarcastically.

"No," he replied easily.

"HEY!"

"Nya! You're so mean ochibi!" Kikumaru pouted.

Ignoring the commotion, Fuji turned to Sakuya. "So, what is it like in your school Sakuya-san?"

"Well, the school started at 8.30 a.m. and ended at 3.30 p.m..."

Ryoma snorted. "You're always late anyway."

"I woke up at 8 in the morning and you couldn't expect me to arrive at school at 8.30." And yet, Sakuya always got away with every violation of rules he made. "But we didn't have tennis club in our school."

"You didn't?" Momoshiro asked, didn't believe his own ears. They didn't have a tennis club in their school but how they managed to become so good in it?

"Yes. So we joined computer club instead."

"You forgot to mention the classical music club," Ryoma muttered.

"You're what?"

"Ochibi, you joined the classical music club?" Kikumaru's eyes widened dramatically.

"I didn't join it. Sakuya did," he nicely reminded him.

"Oh! So you like classical music Sakuya-san?" this question came from Fuji.

Faint irritation appeared in Sakuya's eyes. "Don't get the wrong idea, okay? I joined it because of some incident."

"Incident?" Momoshiro mouthed.

"Yes."

"It was your fault anyway." He said, to which earned him a glare from the blond.

"_And children, look what I got," Mr. Newman waved the ticket in his hand. "A ticket to watch orchestra!" and he kept going on, thanked to his lucky star that he got such an opportunity and bla bla bla..._

"_Could he stop already?" Sakuya snapped. "I'm starving and lunchtime is still five minutes again." He was so obviously anxious to get away as soon as possible._

_In front of the class. "And we will go to watch the concert."_

"_WHAT? He has to be kidding! There's a live Manchester United match on the television at the same time. Why I have to go anyway!"_

"_Because it's an order from our teacher?" Ryoma supplied an answer for him._

"_I don't even like those opera and classical song." he exclaimed. "It hurt my ears!" he said loudly, probably too loud that everyone in class turned their attention to them. It was exaggeration actually since Ryoma knew well that he actually quite like a few classical songs. He only didn't like it if someone ordered him around._

"_Ah, is that so Mister Rothstein?" Newman asked, a frown marred his old face._

"_Yes." Sakuya set his chin at a stubborn angle. "Do you have any problem with that?" he asked back in a challenging manner._

"_You know Mr. Rothstein," Newman said slowly. "Our club lack of member, maybe you're interested to join it?"_

"_I am definitely not interested!" Sakuya retorted. "No sane person is interested," he said rudely. "He would die, rather!" Sakuya could be extremely rude when he chose to._

"_Ah, so you volunteer to be a member. That's so kind of you Mister Rothstein."_

_Ryoma thought Newman's calmness was quite admirable, considering Sakuya's rudeness and considering the fact that he was the first teacher, or the first human on earth, who dared to scold Sakuya. _

"_Hey! Wait! You're not listening to me!"_

"_The practice began at 4 p.m. and you have to come," Newman emphasized his words._

"_Hell no!" Sakuya protested._

"_You have to come."_

"_What! I never-"_

"_Listen to me young man," Newman cut him off, fixing him with a cold gaze. "I don't care if your father is the president of United States or the richest man in this world." The girls gasped at this but Newman went on. "This is my class and you're my student, therefore you must listen to me."_

_The entire class froze at this; even Sakuya was so stunned he was unable to speak. _

_The bell rang, signifying the end of the lesson, though nobody seemed to hear it. "Class is dismissed," Newman said, walking back to his seat._

_One by one the student left the class, some of them whispering something like: "Did you see Rothstein's face earlier? He was so pissed off!" or "Wait till the principal hear this" and "Yeah! I bet Newman will be fired" _

_Newman sighed in his chair. That was why he didn't like to teach in elite school. Here, he was a teacher yet he had no authority against his student, especially against the oil heir. Could you imagine that?_

"_Where?"_

_Startled, Newman looking up. Sakuya stood in front of him. "Where?" the blond repeated._

"_I beg your pardon?" he truly didn't understand._

"_You forgot to tell me where I have to come," Sakuya replied, irritated._

"_You will come?" he asked. _

_Sakuya stared at him as if he had lost his right mind. _"_Listen, you told me to join the club right?"_

"_Err...we use this class," he answered stupidly. He thought Sakuya would call his father and order to fire him. It seemed Sakuya could read his thought because the blond then said. "I'm doing no such thing Mister Newman," he shrugged. "You're my teacher after all." What was up with this sudden respect?_

"That old geezer didn't have a right to force me to come to that damn concert!" Sakuya said and Ryoma switched his mind back to his present surroundings.

"You came to the club anyway," he remarked severely.

"Urgh! Don't remind me of that! My neck and my arms were so sore because he made me practicing violin for hours! I don't know why he did it. I even play violin better than him."

"Serve you right." he said though a small grin tugged at his lips, showing that he was only teasing his friend.

Sakuya grumbled. "Aren't you supposed to be in my side?"

Kikumaru, Momoshiro, and Fuji watched the scene with keen interest. This was the unknown side of Echizen that they never knew it was existed. They also never heard Echizen talked that much in one moment. Even Momoshiro, who was the closest friend of Echizen in Seigaku, had never seen Echizen's expression so lively before.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Momoshiro and Kikumaru winced at the loud voice. Ryuzaki sensei approached them and she didn't look pleased with idea of finding them here, gossiping instead of practicing was they were told. "Run 20 laps now!" she barked.

"HAI!"

As they ran, Ryoma eyed his friend. He knew well why Sakuya suddenly being nice. Sakuya only showed respect to the people he thought they deserved it. They talked about this once, when they went to Haagen-Dazs.

"_Pistachio and chocolate flavor?" he asked him._

"_Yes."_

"_Grab us a table. These are on me."_

"_Okay." Sakuya found a small table in the corner. He also found a newspaper there and began to read._ _He then flipped the pages. Where was the sport section?Ryoma joined him later with a tray of Indian Chocolate Pistachio ice cream and Latte Macchiato ice cream and donuts. "What are you reading?"_

_He showed him the paper. _

"'_The crown prince of Rothstein family won the USA National Tennis Championship for the third time,'" Ryoma read aloud. "'in the final he scored a love game by his famous slow motion aces,'" he looked at him. "You read this?" he shook his head. "You and your ego..."_

_Sakuya shrugged. "Just curious, I don't need to read this crap anyway. I know I'm very good in tennis."_

_He arched an elegant eyebrow. "Cocky aren't you?"_

"_Speak for yourself Ryoma," Sakuya then sighed. "They're all same," the blond said darkly. "Those magazines...those people...If you read further, you will notice that they only mention me in the first two sentences. The rest of it was about father," Sakuya said sarcastically. "I never know if they're truly nice or they're only being nice because of father and that's really annoying." _

_That's very irritating actually. He never knew whether someone was interested in him or in his family wealth, hoping something from their connection. He heard their whispers behind his back. In the end they only wanted something from him. And in the end he was left alone. No. Scratch that. He was always alone from the beginning. Not that he cared anyway...being alone or no had no difference for him, that's of course before Ryoma came. _

"_That's why you act like a jerk." Ryoma said._

"_I only want to see how far they're willing to go." If they wanted something from him they had to pay the price. Nothing was free. How far they could abandon their pride, their dignity for one spoilt brat like him? He wanted to see that._

"_And you did that to Newman too." Ryoma commented, his friend always managed to see what's under his mask._

"_He is a nice guy," Sakuya said seriously. "But the other teachers...yeah, you know them." He decided to change the topic. "Hey Ryoma, do you have something to do after this?"_

"_No. Why?"_

"_I want to watch movie."_

"_Again?" They had just gone to the cinema yesterday._

"_Ryoma?"_

"_Eat your ice cream first then we will go to watch your damn movie," Ryoma grumbled but his eyes said otherwise. Ryoma always looked at him with soft and warm eyes. _

_He caught Ryoma's left hand. The older boy looked at him quizzically. "Thank you Ryoma," he said softly. "Thank you for everything."_

_Staring right into his eyes, Ryoma lifted his hand and kissed it. Ryoma's eyes were very expressive eyes, he noticed, hazel with a depth of intensity in their gaze that seemed to suggest he could read his thoughts. He knew Ryoma understood what he meant. "That's what friends are for, right?" Ryoma was silent for a few moments then he added. "I want you to be happy Sakuya." _

_Now he wasn't alone anymore. Now he had Ryoma, his only friend, the only person who never wanted anything from him. For Ryoma, he was willing to do anything. No matter what happened, he would never let him go. _

"Yes! One more lap!" Momoshiro's thundering voice brought Sakuya out of his musings.

Ryuzaki sensei still wore her displeased look when they headed back to the court. After her speech, which including of 'some irresponsible act like slacking off in the middle of the practice,' the practice was over.

They were about to leave the court when Sakuya asked something. "What time the festival begun?" he wanted to know.

"I'm not quite sure," Momoshiro answered. "But it's about 7 or so..."

"Nya! Summer festival! I want to go too!" Kikumaru said enthusiastically. "Right Oishi?'

But after they asked the regulars, the one who could make it were only Oishi and Kikumaru plus Sakuno. Ann had phoned her yesterday, asking whether she could go or no.

"So we agree to meet at the park front gate at 7.30."

Sakuya headed back to his apartment first, couldn't wait for the festival. He was curious about this summer festival. Was it like the New Year parade at Times Square or the Christmas celebration in Rockefeller Center?

Living in here wasn't bad actually, people in here were quite strange but they were all friendly nonetheless. He probably would enjoy it.

Wait a minute! What the hell he was thinking about? Had he forgotten his purpose? Yes, the only reason why he came to Japan was to ask Ryoma to return to New York with him.

**Author's Note:**

Hi. It's me again. As always please give me reviews. I hope Sakuya doesn't come as Mary Sue because I hate it. He was perfect in some area but utterly rubbish in the other and of course inside he isn't that certain that Ryoma truly liked him.


	8. Chapter 08

**Summer Scent**

Chapter VIII

As soon as the news about the summer festival reached Kikumaru's ears, he heard it from Momoshiro of course since Ochibi and Sakuya obviously kept the information for their self, he decided to tag along too, with Oishi.

The other regular couldn't make it, Kaido had family business to do, Kawamura had to help his father in sushi restaurant 'there're a lot of customers now' was all he said. Fuji and his family went to visit Yuta at Saint Rudolph and the last...Inui. Inui said he was going to try his new special juice recipe. Want to try some? The bespectacled boy flashed him a maniac grin. Kikumaru shuddered at this. There was no way in hell he would drink 'that damn thing' again. He had endured enough suffering.

So now, there were only him, Oishi, Momo, Tachibana's sister, Ryuzaki Sakuno and Ochibi. Sakuya hadn't showed up yet.

"Mou! Where is Sakuya?" he asked impatiently, turning to Echizen. "Ochibi, where is he?"

"I don't know." Ryoma replied, after school Sakuya went straight home so he didn't know where Sakuya was now.

"Nya! How could you don't know where Sakuya is now?" Kikumaru demanded.

Ryoma decided not to reply his senpai. They only promised to meet at park front gate at 7.30. But it seemed his senpai assumed he knew everything about Sakuya. He was Sakuya's friend and lover, not his babysitter.

"Why is he so late?" this time it was Momoshiro's turn to complain.

He got his answer as a black Jaguar stopped in front of them and Sakuya stepped out from the car. "Traffic jam," the blond explained.

"Okay! Let's go then!"

They walked into the park. Kikumaru, Oishi, Sakuno and Ann visited the festival every year so this was nothing new to them but it was the first time for Sakuya and Ryoma. That's why the blond was so excited. Echizen's face still wore its usual bored expression.

The festival area, when they reached it, was teeming with people. All around them there were colorful lights, people laughing and talking, boys and girls wearing traditional Japanese clothes, old man peering at the stalls and buying nothing, and children weaving in and out between the grown-ups. There were also various stalls set up along the sides of the river.

"This is awesome!" Sakuya said in delight.

"Isn't it great?" Momoshiro asked behind his shoulder.

"Yeah," he said enthusiastically.

"This is your first time going to the summer festival, isn't it Sakuya-san?" Ann said, coming up behind them with Sakuno beside her. Sakuno wore a pink kimono and Ann wore a yellow kimono with sunflower pattern on it. Tomoka couldn't come because she had to keep an eye of her brother.

Sakuya nodded. He was still fascinated by his surroundings before he noticed their clothes. "You're wearing traditional Japanese clothes, kimono isn't it?" he said. "Like they wear in United Nations day."

"It's called yukata, another version of kimono." Ann explained. "We wear this on summer."

Meanwhile Momoshiro was confused. "What day?" he asked, frowning.

"United Nations Day," the blond repeated. "We studied at international school so aside of Fourth July we also celebrate United Nations Day and at that day, we're expected to wear our own traditional clothes," he explained.

Momoshiro nodded. Another revelation. That brat never told them anything.

"Hey! What are we going to do first?" Kikumaru interrupted. He couldn't wait to explore this place.

"Let's eat first." Sakuya urged. "I do believe it is dinner time now," he said hungrily with a glance at his watch. "And look at all the food!" he exclaimed. "There're so many!"

"In my opinion, that's an excellent idea," Momoshiro said as he stared covetously at the food stalls.

"Are you sure you want something to eat already?" Oishi looked a bit worried.

"Of course! Come on!" then Sakuya added. "It's my treat."

"Yay!" Kikumaru and Momoshiro cheered happily.

They spotted okonomiyaki stall and decided to eat there. "So this is okonomiyaki. This is the first time I've ever seen okonomiyaki." Sakuya said. In his opinion, okonomiyaki was just like egg pancake with meat and vegetables as the topping. "Looks delicious," the blond commented, putting the okonomiyaki into his mouth. "It's hot!"

"You idiot. Of course it's hot. They have just baked it," Ryoma shook his head and put a glass of cold water into his hand. "Drink it."

Sakuya drank it then continued his eating, the same went for Momoshiro. If they didn't know better, one would think that they were in eating contest.

"Are they okay?" Kikumaru asked worriedly, concerned about their unbelievable appetite.

"They're perfectly okay," Ryoma said with a roll of his eyes. "If they can eat like that it mean they're okay."

Fifteen minutes later, and they all finished their meal. "That was delicious!" Sakuya declared.

Momoshiro snickered. "After four plates, you'd know for sure," he teased.

"Said the person who had three plates also," the blond retorted. He went to pay the food. He didn't ask the price, but simply opened his wallet and took out one ten thousand yen bills. One thing about those wealthy people, they never worried about money. Oishi and Momoshiro exchanged questioning glance but decided not to say anything.

"Nya! You have a credit card!" Kikumaru exclaimed. He had been standing near the blond. He looked at it. "Wow if you have credit card then you must come from a rich family," Kikumaru mused. That was so obvious, a fourteen year old boy with a wallet full of money and credit card, what else could you expect?

Not wanting to bring up his family's story, he steered the conversation back to something that had caught his attention. "What's that?" he pointed at the long wooden crate filled by water. "Do they sell fish here?"

The girl at the stall giggled upon hearing it. "No, it's a game called kingyou sukui. Do you want to try this? If you can catch the fish then the fish is yours." She explained.

"Looks interesting. Let's try it," he urged them.

So they all agreed. Ann and Sakuno positioned themselves by the water, paper cups in hand. Sakuno dipped her cup in the water. It tore almost immediately. She tried two times again but it all failed. She never caught fish by her own actually since she was too clumsy, different with Tomoka. Tomoka was always good in sports.

"Did you catch one?"

She turned and saw Ann, the girl was holding a plastic bag of goldfish. "No," Sakuno shook her head. "I'm going to try it once again." She positioned herself by the water.

"Don't put the cup in the water too quickly or it will break."

She turned and found Ryoma beside her. "Ryoma-kun."

"Do it like I said."

"Umm...okay." she did exactly like Ryoma told her. It was useless anyway. "Ah! Gomen nasai Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma only stared blankly at her. Why was the girl apologizing anyway? He then remembered something. "This is for you. I don't have any use of goldfish," he handed the goldfish he had caught earlier. "And thanks for the pudding."

Sakuno blushed. "Thank you Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma merely shrugged, already walking to Sakuya's place. Kikumaru and Momoshiro didn't manage to catch a fish, Oishi senpai managed to catch one.

"So how to do this?" Sakuya asked the girl at the stall. "Any advice?" From watching his senpai he could make out how to do it but he wanted confirmation first.

"Well, it's easy to catch the fish _if _you know the tricks," the girl answered back. "Is it okay if I tell you?" She said hesitantly more to herself, eyeing the boy in front of her.

"I won't tell this to anyone else," He said, giving his most charming smile. Oh yes, victory was in his hand.

Five minutes later, he lowered his cup into the water for the fifth times and came out with a fish, which he dropped into plastic bag and held it up triumphantly. "Ryoma! Look! Look! I caught five fish!" he smiled brightly and launched into a stream of English.

Ryoma smirked. Somehow he found Sakuya's childlike enthusiasm captivating. His eyes moved to the girl and he inwardly sighed. Sakuya really knew how to use people for his own benefit, the skill the blond inherited from his family although flirting with girls was something Sakuya learned from Christophe, the blond beloved cousin.

"That's good. Big catch, isn't it?" Sakuya broke in with an involuntary squeal of excitement, which died away as he went on. "But what're you going to do with them?"

"EHHH? Oh shit! I forgot that."

He sighed.

"Hey wait! You also caught a fish, right?"

"I gave it to her," he said.

"Great idea." Since Sakuya didn't know what to do with the fish anyway. "Oi Sakuno-san!"

"Ah hai?"

"Here! These are for you."

"Eh?" She already got a fish from Ryoma and now Sakuya-san also gave her his fish. "But-"

"Just take it," Sakuya said buoyantly and shoved the bag into her hand. "You can give some of these fish to Osakada." He suggested then turned to talk to Ryoma.

Ann studied the whole scene. She had been looking at them since Echizen gave the fish to Sakuno till now. Sakuya was saying something to Echizen and he moved his hand animatedly while Echizen listened. And Echizen had none of his devil may care attitude since Sakuya had all of his attention.

Judging from what she had seen of Sakuya so far, she could tell the blond was bright, cheerful and charming. He was so charming that it's impossible not to like him. And he knew how to use his charm, poor that girl. And Sakuya also was so spoilt and the amazing thing was, Echizen put up with him.

If Sakuno had some or Sakuya's personalities, except for the spoilt part of course, Echizen probably would notice her more but that wouldn't change anything. She had noticed the way Echizen looked at Sakuya and she seriously thought that Echizen considered Sakuya more than a mere friend. What else could it be? Friend didn't look at his friend in that way. Echizen's eyes were glued to Sakuya all the time and there was a certain light in Echizen's eyes whenever he looked at his _said_ blond friend.

"Uhm...It's okay with you Sakuya-san?" Sakuno asked uncertainly.

"Just take it," Sakuya replied. "I can't keep these fish by myself anyway. I already have a pet."

"Ano...thank you Sakuya-san."

"You have a pet? What it is? A dog? Or a cat like ochibi?" the question came Kikumaru.

"Turtle." Sakuya said.

"You have turtle?" Momoshiro was mystified.

Sakuya gave a helpless shrug. "It's a birthday present from Ryoma."

"You gave me a _ca_t," the black haired boy retorted. "That's a fair exchange."

"A turtle and a cat. I think you could give something more useful...like tennis shoes or those sport stuff," Momoshiro said hopefully.

Sakuya looked confused. "What for?" he asked. "I have everything."

Yes, the problem with Sakuya was the blond had everything. That's why they always gave each other gag gifts. The only thing that wasn't a gag gift from him was a necklace. He saw it when he went to mall and he thought that the green crystal would match Sakuya's eyes perfectly. He helped Sakuya to wear it and suddenly said something that he didn't know where it came from. The words just jumped out from his mouth. Sakuya looked stunned then he returned to his usual self and then, much to his disgust, Sakuya teased him for being a pervert like his father. But in the end Sakuya did it anyway and they had _a lot of_ _fun_ together.

Meanwhile Oishi was thinking of different thing. Echizen's cat. Karupin. Oishi ever met with the cat once. One day Karupin followed Echizen to school ad got lost there. The freshman was so panicked at that time. For Echizen who showed no interest in anything that wasn't related to tennis, his attachment to his cat could be questioned actually. Well...Echizen got the cat from Sakuya.

They walked through the crowd and each time Sakuya would ask something and they would explain it to him, playing a role as a tour guide. "It's a takoyaki." Oishi said, making a mental note that Sakuya seemed far too interested in food than anything else.

"Let's try some," the blond suggested.

He sweatdropped. "Didn't you just eat?"

"I have decided to sample all of the food here," Sakuya stated.

"Heh. So you have same idea too?" Momoshiro questioned.

"Yes. Since I'm already here I have to eat everything."

"Yosh! Let's go Sakuya-san!" And they both marched off towards the stall with the determined expression on their faces.

"Oi! Momo! Sakuya-san!" he shouted desperately.

Echizen shook his head. "It's no use Oishi senpai."

He turned. "But-"

"Their stomachs are like vacuum cleaner." Echizen's mouth curved into smile. Certainly he found the situation hilarious. "In some aspect Momo senpai really reminds me of Sakuya."

Oishi refrained himself from saying anything. Yes. Now after Echizen mentioned it, he could see the similarity between Sakuya and Momoshiro.

"Ok. So far we have eaten okonomiyaki and takoyaki. What's the next?"

"Yakisoba." Momoshiro answered enthusiastically. For both of them the summer festival somehow had turned into food festival. They headed to yakisoba stall but as soon as Sakuya saw what yakisoba was, his face changed a bit. "I don't like noodle so I will pass this."

"Hontou ni?"

"You really don't want to try some Sakuya-san?"

"No thanks."

Ryoma inwardly laughed. "I thought you like noodle Sakuya." He said delicately with all of the seriousness he could muster.

Sakuya glared at him. "Shut up Ryoma."

Finally he took a pity in his blond friend. "Here, try some."

Even though Sakuya still glared at him, the blond moved to eat the noodle while he held the chopstick.

"It's good."

"You said you don't like noodle," Momoshiro said in genuine confusion.

"He likes it, he only can't use chopstick." Ryoma said.

"Are you serious?" Momoshiro exclaimed.

Sakuya's mouth twitched in respond. "Yeah," he admitted grudgingly.

"Do you still want some?" Ryoma asked him.

"No," he shook his head.

Oishi had been looking at Ryoma and Sakuya since they chose the seat. And since they sat in front of him he got a good view although he regretted it now. They sat closely side by side and he swore if Sakuya moved closer the blond would end up sitting in Echizen's lap. And he had no doubt that Echizen wouldn't mind it at all. Oishi too, had the same opinion with Ann, about Sakuya and Echizen's _friendship_.

He looked at his surroundings. Ann and Momoshiro were talking about something. And Sakuno...he could see that Sakuno's face was as red as tomato and she kept staring at her bowl as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Kikumaru was too busy with his own food to notice anything. Good tactic. He tried to ignore them and concentrate on his food.

Meanwhile Ann and Momoshiro already witnessed this before so they could just ignore it. It took a more effort in Momoshiro's part.

"Isn't it a nice day?" Momoshiro asked.

"Yes." Ann agreed.

Sakuya stared disbelievingly at Momoshiro and Ann. **"'**_**Isn't it a nice day?'"**_ he repeated incredulously in English. **"That's the lamest thing I've ever heard! How could he attract girls with that?"**

"**That is common way of starting a conversation," **Ryoma replied.

"**Yeah right, and I am an alien from Mars." **Sakuya said sarcastically.

"**When we went to beach you also talked about landscape with me,"** he said and as he could predict before, Sakuya's face twitched in annoyance.

_They sat side by side, dangling their feet in the water. "What a beautiful evening," Sakuya began._

"_Very."_

_He tried again. "This beach is beautiful, don't you think so?"_

"_Yes."_

_He went on. "And the water is very warm too."_

"_Yes."_

_He was suddenly exasperated. "Don't you want to talk?"_

"_Yes, I do. When you have finished discussing the landscape."_

"_WHY YOU!" he snapped. "I'm MAKING conversation here!"_

_He watched him laughing and almost choked on rage which melted completely at Ryoma's next words. "Tell me about yourself." _

_Ryoma was actually surprised, in his life he could ever remember wanting to know someone else life. But with Sakuya, everything was so much different._

"**That's because you didn't give a damn about me! In my entire life I never said something **_**that**_** stupid!" **Sakuya retorted. **"I felt like I was going to strangle you for making fun of me."**

"**And what stopped you?"**

The blond smiled. **"The fact that you're the only friend I have...and I certainly didn't want to lose my future lover," **he said, half joking, half telling the truth.

"How if we eat kakikori after this?" Momoshiro interrupted.

"Okay." Sakuya replied instantly.

"But you ate so much before," Oishi groaned. Not again. He was amazed witnessing inhumanly appetite of Momoshiro and Sakuya.

"What is kakikori anyway?" Sakuya asked, completely ignoring Oishi.

"It's shaved ice with syrup and read beans as the topping."

This seemed harmless but Sakuya and Momoshiro still managed to eat three glasses.

"Sakuya-san really eats a lot." Sakuno muttered.

"That's an understatement of the century," Echizen said.

Sakuya ignored the sarcastic comment. "Of course I do. Eating is one of the best things about life."

Everyone except Ryoma sweatdropped.

"I'm full." Momoshiro announced.

Sakuya paused to look at him. "Really? I still want to eat."

This took everyone's a surprise. "EHHH?"

"No, you don't." Ryoma said. "Now we're going to look around."

"But-"

"No but!"

"Ryoma," the blond whined. "You're no fun!"

They're about to leave the stall when Oishi said something. "How about watching taiko first? There's a taiko drum demonstration over down this way."

"Well... we still have time till fireworks display." Ann added.

"Fireworks display?"

"Yes. It's the main attraction of this festival."

"Ok. But what it is taiko anyway?" Sakuya asked. He was half Japanese but he didn't know much about Japanese culture.

"Taiko is Japanese drum show," Momoshiro said. "The performer this year is Osuwa daiko. This group combines many Japan's traditional music instruments with drum as its main instrument," he informed them in the manner of someone handing out vital information.

"So what do you think?" Ann elaborated.

The group nodded in agreement. But after five minutes, Sakuya felt so bored. He pulled Ryoma's sleeve.

"What?" the older boy asked.

"This is _so_ boring Ryoma. Let's go and see around."

Ryoma nodded. He already expected Sakuya to say so. Since they both were born and grew up in US, they didn't find this taiko demonstration interesting, in fact it bored them to death. He turned to Oishi and tapped his shoulder. "Oishi-senpai."

"Yes?" Oishi asked, turning to look at them.

"We want to look this place," Sakuya said impatiently. "So see you later, okay?"

"We will meet you before the fireworks started," Ryoma said.

Oishi could see both Echizen and Sakuya wearing an identical bored expression on their faces. Well, since they were brought up in USA, he quite understood if they're not interested in this so he nodded and they both left.

"So, what are we going to do?" Sakuya asked him.

He shrugged. "Just walk and see whatever comes."

They were walking around aimlessly when Sakuya saw a souvenir stall. "Shall we go have a look?"

They were in half way when someone bumped into Sakuya. "OUCH! ARE YOU BLIND!" he snapped angrily. "Watch where you are going, you bastard!"

Sasabe was about to snap back when he saw who he bumped into. A gaijin girl?

"**Are you okay Sakuya?" **someone said in English.

He looked at the newcomer and almost got a heart attack. "IT"S YOU!" he pointed at the cocky and arrogant brat who had beaten him in tennis.

"**Do you know him Ryoma?" **the gaijin said.

The brat shrugged. **"None at all."**

"Sasabe?" his date approached him from behind. "What's wrong?" then she saw them. "Ara? You're yesterday guests."

Sasabe turned to face her. "Yumi, do you know them?"

"They came to the restaurant yesterday. I don't know you're friends."

"Err..." he smiled nervously. Shit. If Yumi knew them, it's better to get out of this place as soon as possible. There was no way in hell he would let his date knew how the boy had humiliated him.

"Let's go Yumi!" he said.

"EHHH? But-"

"Come on!" he dragged her away but she still turned for the last time. "Come to the restaurant again, okay? And bring your girlfriend along with you." She winked at them both.

Ryoma blinked.

She turned to Sasabe. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing. Just ignore that arrogant brat!" Really. That brat not only beat him senseless but also got a beautiful gaijin as his girlfriend. Life was so unfair!.

Yumi's brows furrowed. This was their first date and Sasabe already became a jerk. Arrogant brat? Sasabe must be insane. That kid and his girlfriend made a cute couple. She made a decision. This was her first and also her last date with Sasabe!

"Isn't the girl that freaky waitress? The one who kept staring at me?" Sakuya questioned. "People in here _are_ weird." He shook his head. "How did you manage to know that bastard anyway?"

"Dunno."

Sakuya snickered. "Ah yes. You never remember people's name and face."

He shrugged. Aside from tennis, he only paid attention to Sakuya. Anything else was irrelevant.

"Arrogant brat, eh?" Sakuya said. "I don't know why people always label you that."

He raised an eyebrow at this. 99 percent people he knew always considered him as an arrogant and cocky one.

"They think of you as arrogant type but you aren't. You are a guy with considerable pride and self esteem. Most of people misunderstand that," Sakuya paused, as if he was searching for the right words. "You know,' he continued, "when someone is clearly competent than you, instead of saying I can't stand that guy cause he is more competent than me, he's described as arrogant."

"Are you a psychologist now?" he teased him.

Sakuya shot him a dirty look. "I needn't to be a psychologist to know that. Nobody knows you as I do."

He smirked. It was true. The one who truly knew him was only Sakuya. It was nice, to have someone who understood him, and he did have to admit that life without Sakuya was different. He had friends in Seigaku, of course, buy they were not Sakuya. They didn't know him like Sakuya did. He and Sakuya liked each other, they enjoyed the same things, laughed at the same things too and they had pleasure in each other company. He liked Sakuya's presence beside him.

They fit in everything except one...they no longer shared the same opinion about tennis. At first he only played tennis to beat his father but now...he played for entirely different reason. He still wanted to beat that old man of course, but now he played for himself and for his team too. Something never crossed his mind before. 'Be a Seigaku's pillar..." that was Tezuka buchou said to him. But, how to explain this to Sakuya?

"Ryoma?" Sakuya had a questioned look on his face. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing." He replied automatically.

"Well, if you said so." Sakuya said, choosing to drop the matter. "Hey! Let's sit there."

They headed to the bench and sat there. For long time they only sat there without talking,

Sakuya was the first to break the silence. "You know...It was most unkind of you to leave me." The blond said ever so quietly that he had some difficulty to catch his words.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Huh? Could you say that again? My ears were temporally deaf," Sakuya said, a slow grin turning up those full, mocking lips.

He glared at him. "Don't push your luck Sakuya." But he lifted Sakuya's hand, turned it palm uppermost and kissed the inside of his wrist. He could feel Sakuya's pulse quickened. Sakuya's hand in his was soft, and cold as always.

It was weird though. Sakuya sometimes was a very temperamental person but he always had a cool body temperature, Ryoma however, while having a cold personality, had a warm body temperature. But despite that, Sakuya's heartbeat was faster than normal. It was the blonde's habit, that his hearts pounding whenever he was near him. The habit started almost a year ago, since that day.

He looked at Sakuya. "Are you feeling better now?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Much better." Sakuya flashed him a smile.

He responded with a smile of his own, one full of warmth and possession. If one of his Seigaku's friends saw him smiling like this, they would think that they were hallucinating. He was not known for displays of affection yet he was much warmer when he was near Sakuya.

"Thanks for coming here with me." The blond was saying. "I knew you don't like crowded place."

He shrugged. "It had been a long time since the last time we went out together."

"If you're in love with me that much, you can treat for ice cream." Sakuya said with a grin.

He sighed. "Do you still want to eat?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?"

"Fine but don't blame me if you get fat."

The blond snorted. "If you use your brain, you can eat anything you want without fear being fat."

A ringing sound interrupted them. He picked up his cell phone. It took him several seconds to realize who was calling. It was Oishi senpai who called him. "We're heading there now."

Oishi, Kikumaru, Momoshiro, Ann and Sakuno already waited for them in the open yard where they could watch the fireworks.

"Where have you been?" Oishi asked.

"Jeez! You made us wait a long time!" Momoshiro grumbled.

"Stop it guys." Ann said. "Hanabi taikai is almost begun. Sit and watch, okay?"

Soon, the sky was lighted up in red, green and yellow and everyone sat there, enjoying the display. After watching it, everyone went home. Oishi and Kikumaru went back together while Momoshiro walked Ann home. Ryuzaki Sumire hadn't picked up her granddaughter yet so Sakuya and Ryoma accompanied her.

"Is it really okay?" Sakuno asked nervously. She didn't want to bother Sakuya and Ryoma.

"Never mind Sakuno-san." Sakuya said, wishing at the same time that the girl would overcome her shyness. "Only a crazy people who will leave a girl alone in the midnight." Suddenly he jumped from the bench.

"Where're you going Sakuya-san?"

He pointed at the ice cream parlor. "I want to eat ice ream. Do you want some Sakuno-san?"

"No," she shook her head, while wondering what kind of people who wanted to eat ice cream in the midnight. "I'm full."

Ryoma also got up from his chair. "You wait here," he said. "I will go to buy it. I said I'm going to treat you ice cream." Without waiting for an answer, he walked away.

"Ryoma-kun..."

"Just ignore him," Sakuya waved his hand dismissively. "He's always like that all the time. The festival was really fun. Tell me, do you come to the festival every year?"

"Hai. My mother used to take me here when I was a child."

"It must be nice then." Sakuya commented.

"How about you Sakuya-san?"

"My mother is dead."

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay. She died when I was three so I don't remember anything about her. Beside that, I really hate it if people look at me like I'm the definition of unfortunate." Definition of unfortunate? With the giant oil corporation and total assets hundred billions dollar his family owned, Sakuya was far from that.

"Ano," Sakuno said hesitantly. "How about you brother or your father?"

"I'm the only child." He shrugged. "And my father's always busy with his job. He's just like Ryoma, if the most important thing for Ryoma is tennis then for my father, the most important thing in his life is his job. I'm just the second," he said. His voice was strangely calm.

"Don't say things like that about your father Sakuya-san!"

Sakuya blinked. He was taken a back by her statement.

Sakuno drew in her breath and summoned up her courage. "You're his child. A father always considers his child as the most important thing in his life. And you're Ryoma-kun's friend so...so...I think you're also important for Ryoma-kun..." she said sheepishly.

Sakuya stared at her then he broke into laughter.

"Ano... Sakuya-san. Gomen nasai...I didn't mean to..." Why was Sakuya laughing anyway?

"Nothing. It's just..." Sakuya shook his head. "You know...you're really a nice girl Sakuno-san."

Sakuno's face was flaming with embarrassment. This was the first time in her life someone ever complimented her.

"I thought you're just like them." The blond continued.

She stared at him. Them? Who he meant by them?

"But you aren't. You're truly a nice girl." He said softly then his expression turned serious. "That's why you better give him up."

She was shocked.

"You will find someone who will return your feeling."

"Sakuya-san..."

Ignoring her, as if he never said anything Sakuya waved his hand. "Ryoma, you're back!"

Ryoma had come back with ice cream cone in his hand. "Thanks Ryoma. You're the best," the blond said happily.

Ryoma didn't seem to notice the uneasy atmosphere there. "Ryuzaki, isn't that Ryuzaki sensei car?"

Surely it was. The car stopped in front of them. Sumire had come to pick up her granddaughter and after seeing that Ryoma and Sakuya also with Sakuno, she offered to drive them home.

"Where do you live Sakuya?" she asked.

"I will stay at Ryoma's place tonight," the blond answered. So she drove over to Echizen's residence, the boys got out, said thanks and went in.

"Ne obasan..."

"Hmm?"

Sakuno was silent for a while, then murmured. "Ryoma-kun and Sakuya-san really are best friends...I mean...there're a lot of things we don't about Ryoma-kun but Sakuya-san knows everything..." Actually they knew almost nothing of Ryoma except for the fact that Ryoma loved tennis.

Sumire eyed her granddaughter thoughtfully. "Sou ka?"

Sakuno didn't answer, since her mind was busy replaying the blonde's remark. _'You better give him up._' Then his earlier comment. '_The most important thing for Ryoma is tennis.'_

She knew it. She had always known it. Everyone could see that aside from tennis Ryoma wasn't interested and it showed in his manner. So, was that why Sakuya warned him?

Next to her, Sumire also had her own thinking. She had called Nanjirou to tell him about Sakuya few days ago.

"_So you've met him, eh?"_

"_Yes and he is just like you said before. There is no passion in his tennis, only desire to beat his opponent. The ambition to become the number one."_

"_It can't be helped."_

"_But they're a great double pair."_

"_Che! Of course! They're always in a good mood when they're together."_

"_Everyone has been saying that they're such a close friend."_

"_Close friends? Bah!" Nanjiroh snorted. "It amazes me to no end why they haven't gotten married yet."_

She looked at her granddaughter. She knew Sakuno had a crush on Ryoma. But with Sakuya coming here... She sighed. Teenager and their love problem.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"It was great." He said happily.

"Was it?" Ryoma replied.

"Everybody had a fine time, didn't they?"

"Whatever. It's almost midnight now. Go to sleep."

"But I don't feel sleepy at all," he retorted.

Ryoma sighed. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"Playstation?" he suggested. But ten minutes later, he felt bored so he turned and moved closer to Ryoma. The older boy was reading a book so he didn't notice that the blond already approached him from his back.

He put his arms around Ryoma's neck, hugging him from the back. "I'm bored," he whispered into his friend's ear.

Ryoma put the book on the floor and turned his body to look at him with those golden eyes, eyes that somehow managed to be soft and piercing at the same time. "Sakuya, what do you want to do now?"

"Hmm...How about _anything_ you want to do Ryoma-sama?" he made a charmingly naughty face and his eyes sparkled with devilment.

Ryoma smirked and pulled him into his arms, leaning to kiss him. He opened his mouth and Ryoma's tongue plunged into his mouth, sweeping in slow, sensual arcs, curling around his own tongue. "So, anything I want to do huh? Really?" Ryoma asked after they broke apart.

"Yes," he answered. Familiar warmth he remembered well began creeping through his body. "Anything you want..." he whispered in a sultry tone.

The bed rose to meet them and he clasped his hands around Ryoma's neck. Ryoma bent his head to press warm kisses into the curve of his neck. He could feel Ryoma's breath warm on his skin and shivers of something akin to pleasure tingled his spine.

"Hey Ryoma..."

"Hmm?"

"Clothes. We're still wearing clothes," he murmured, reminding him.

"They come off." The older boy soothed. His voice was scarcely more than a whisper.

Sakuya inwardly smiled.

_Yes..._

_Want me badly..._

_Posses me wholly..._

_Take me..._

_And..._

_Make me yours..._

**Author's Note:**

I don't really like this chapter. I think this the worst chapter in the entire story I've written so far. I re-wrote this a few times and still the words, the sentences, the characters and everything seem don't fit.

I think if Ryoma liked someone, that person had to be like him. Someone as arrogant as him. Sakuno was way too shy for her own good. Ryoma needed someone who was blunt, just like himself. Someone who could be his equal in everything, whether in tennis or anything else.


	9. Chapter 09

**Summer Scent**

Chapter IX

It was the sunlight that brought Echizen Ryoma out of his peaceful slumber. He opened his eyes lazily and stretched then turned to look at the sleeping teenager beside him. Well, this was not the first time he woke up with Sakuya in his arms. Sakuya looked as breathtakingly lovely as always. The beauty that was his. Although he never showed it he was not without jealousy. He simply could not bear the idea of anyone else touching Sakuya. In this world Sakuya belonged to no one but him.

Lightly, he kissed those slightly open lips, and was rewarded by the fluttering of Sakuya's eyes. "Morning," he murmured.

"Morning too," Sakuya pouted teasingly. "You woke me up from the most wonderful dream."

"Did I have a starring role in it?" he asked playfully.

"Sure you did. You _are_ my brat prince, remember?" came the reply.

He suppressed a smile. "You know, you don't have a right to call me brat."

"Why not?"

"I'm older than you," he stated.

"You're only seven days older than me! What difference does it make?"

"It made a difference."

"Oh shut up!"

He did, for three seconds. "Technically we are still in the same age. So if I'm a brat that means you're brat too."

"What?"

Sakuya was about to argue back when a knocking sound at the door stopped him.

"Ryoma," Echizen Rinko called his son. "Are you up yet?"

"Yes." He replied.

"Breakfast is almost ready."

"Hai." He turned to Sakuya. "Now get up, you spoiled child."

"I don't want to." Sakuya shoved his head under the pillow. He was never a morning person. Even a military band in his bedroom would have a tough job to wake him up. "Today is Saturday. I still want to sleep."

"Sakuya..." he muttered in warning.

"Okay! Okay! I get up now!" Sakuya pulled himself into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around his knees, and stared at him.

He stared back at the blond.

"Enjoy what you're looking at?" Sakuya was the first to break the silence.

"There is nothing much to see anyway," he said. He wasn't being honest there. The sheet did nothing to cover Sakuya's naked body, well, mostly because of his sitting position. Sakuya looked so beautiful, even more than before, with his perfect face, alabaster skin and those large, green, luminous eyes.

He told him once about that. He could have bitten out his tongue for allowing the words to trip over it so easily but strangely Sakuya didn't seem to notice anything out of ordinary about his words, and it was a good thing. Sakuya had a big ego and he didn't want to pump up his ego more than necessary.

"That's weird." Tilting his head to one side, Sakuya teased, "At that time you were so eager to see me naked."

"_It's finally done!" Sakuya exclaimed. "Why I have to do this anyway? Nobody cares if I don't do my homework."_

"_Well I do," he replied. "I don't want detention from the teacher because of your laziness."_

"_I might be lazy but I'm not stupid." Sakuya said with a shrug and got up from his seat. That was true, like his entire family, Sakuya was smart, even to the point of brilliant. _

_Ryoma stopped him. "Wait," he muttered. _

"_Huh?" Sakuya regarded him in faint puzzlement._

_He reached into his pocket and pulled out something then put it into Sakuya's palm. Sakuya looked at the thing. It was a silver necklace with a hexagonal green crystal as its pendant._

"_For me?" the blond questioned. _

"_You can throw it away if you don't like it," he answered. _

_Sakuya snickered. "Whoa...someone is highly sensitive today," the blond teased him. _

"_Here, let me put it on you." He took the necklace and opened the catch. He held it out, and Sakuya ducked inside the circle of his arms so that he could fasten it around Sakuya's neck. "Hmm…You smell good," he murmured, pressing his lips gently to Sakuya's neck. _

_Sakuya turned in his arms. "What occasion?" the blond asked. "Today is not Christmas and not my birthday either."_

"_Nothing," he replied. "But I want to see you wearing nothing but this." As soon as the words came out from his mouth he regretted it. What had possessed him to say that? He could see that Sakuya looked so stunned. _

"_Well, well..." Sakuya said at last, recovering from the shock. "Who would have guessed that Echizen Ryoma is actually a pervert just like his father?"_

_He gave him a death glare. "Just forget it."_

_But the next minute he knew, Sakuya already stood in front of him and wore nothing. Well, except for the necklace. _

"_So, how do I look?" Sakuya asked. He had rested his right hand against his hip in and posed in a very inviting manner._

"_Just like usual."_

_The next moment two soft, cold arms were around his neck and a slim, naked body was pressed against his. "Only looking?" Sakuya asked provocatively. "I would be so disappointed if you only wanted to look. I never said, 'Look, don't touch,' didn't I?" This time the voice held an unmistakably seductive tone then he said. "Carry me to the bed."_

_Hiding his smile, he smirked. "Be a more honorable Sakuya."_

"_Honorable won't get me in your bed. And that's precisely where I would like to be." The look Sakuya had on his face was pure sexual invitation. Sakuya certainly knew how to make him sweat. "Now, carry me to the bed." The blond ordered._

_He smirked. "You're lucky that from here to your bed are only a few meters away." He lifted Sakuya, carrying the blond to the bed. Laying him on top of the bed, he said, "You know, I think you're a bigger pervert than my father."_

_Smirking back, Sakuya replied. "And I think you like it."_

Oh yes, he remembered in breathtaking detail what had happened at that time. "And now," Sakuya continued and leaned closer. "You are staring at me as if you want to eat me alive," he said ever so casually. Sakuya wasn't at all shy when it came to letting people knew what he thought about something once he had decided he wanted them to know.

"Is that so?" he questioned.

"Yes."

Their face was so close now that their breaths mingled together, so he leaned over and kissed him on the mouth. Sakuya opened his mouth and their tongues twisted over each other. They broke apart a few moments later, both breathing heavily.

"You are not going to get any breakfast if we don't stop," he muttered in a husky voice.

"Like I care," the blond replied in an equally husky voice. "If you are asking _which_ I prefer..." Sakuya touched his lips with the tip of his tongue and looked at him straight in the eyes. His eyes had gone into deep, dark green.

He smirked at the enticing movement. "I know _which_ I prefer," he paused to brush a light kiss along Sakuya's cheek. "It's too bad we have too little time to take this any further without my mother coming here and calling us for breakfast."

"Then I guessed we'd better settle for breakfast," Sakuya reluctantly agreed.

A few moments later, they walked into the dining room and saw Nanjiroh reading newspaper with porn magazine inside it. A wicked idea appeared in Sakuya's mind.

"Reading porn magazine in the morning? Really, you never change Nanjiroh-san." He whispered into Nanjiroh's ear.

Echizen Nanjiroh jumped from his chair and dropped his magazine to the floor.

Sakuya laughed seeing his antics and picked the magazine. "The French edition of Playboy? How did you manage to get this?" the blond asked innocently.

That little devil! Nanjiroh cursed inwardly. How did he manage to get that? He got that magazine from Sakuya as souvenir when his son and the blond went to Paris for their honeymoon. Okay. His son, his wife and everyone else called it summer vacation. _He_ called it honeymoon. Even though he knew the brat agreed to go there because he wanted to watch France Open Nanjiroh was also positive that his son would go wherever Sakuya asked him to.

He sighed. "Give it back Sakuya."

As if he had not heard him, Sakuya flipped the pages and released a low whistle. "Whoa...This woman really has big boobs," he commented casually.

The nerve Sakuya had! Different with his son, Sakuya took this kind of thing so casually and so freely and the most annoying thing was he couldn't argue back because if he did...

"Sakuya."

"Ah! Good morning Rinko-san," Sakuya greeted his wife.

"What is this fuss?" she turned to him. "Nanjiroh, how many times I told you before, stop teasing Sakuya. If you kept behaving like this, you would scare him away."

"What? But-"

Rinko turned to the blond. "Just ignore him Sakuya. He's always like that all the time," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"You don't need to worry Rinko-san," Sakuya assured her.

Then she saw the magazine in Sakuya's hand. "And what _is_ that? _Not_ my husband's porn magazine, right?" her eyes narrowed threateningly at her husband. Nanjiroh gulped and looked at the blond. Oh dear!

"Of course no Rinko-san. This is only tennis magazine. I want to ask Nanjiroh-san how to do the shot like Federer does," Sakuya answered smoothly with fake sincerity that he found positively astounding. Sakuya could win Oscar for his acting skills.

Instantly reassured, Rinko smiled warmly at Sakuya. "Breakfast should be ready in five minutes," she said before disappearing into kitchen.

He let out an aggrieved sigh. It was the face, he concluded, because Sakuya had that damn innocent face nobody noticed that he actually had such a dirty mouth. Even though they noticed it, they _refused _to believe it. Probably it was only him and his son who realized it. Speaking of that, he turned to his son. "You love this, don't you?" he flung at him.

"What are you talking about oyaji?" Ryoma sat back in his chair and regarded him with faintly amusement, elegant eyebrows raised in mock surprise.

"Here," Sakuya said, giving back his magazine. "You're so tense Nanjiroh-san. You know, I have some adult movies I downloaded from Net. Maybe you're interested?"

He groaned in frustration. Growing up in America, he hoped one day that brat would bring home a blond beauty. That brat _did _bring home a blond beauty. But why the blond turned out to be someone like this?

"You're going to like it." Sakuya chattered on. "Those women are so damn hot and it's three- no, foursome."

He swore, one day Sakuya would kill him.

Ryoma, in the other hand, was trying hard not to laugh. Sakuya always talked like that all the time. It was his way of talking. At first, he was quite shocked too but now he already got used to it. Hey, if he was going to spend the rest of his life with Sakuya, he had to tolerate it, right?

And beside that, he really enjoyed seeing his father twitched. Sakuya could annoy his father without even trying. For his father, it was okay if he talked like that but it was _not_ okay if someone else replied to him in the same manner and Sakuya knew it too. He could see humor flickered within Sakuya's gaze. His friend enjoyed baiting his father and thought of it as private entertainment. Now, Sakuya even offered his father to watch _that_. He still remembered how Sakuya tricked him to watch it.

"_What is that?" he asked, motioning two big plastic bags Sakuya was carrying._

"_Dvd and potato chips," Sakuya answered casually, walking into his bedroom as if it was the blonde's own room. "And get me orange juice, okay?"_

_He returned to his room few moments later, only to find Sakuya sat on his bed, currently watching an extremely porn movie while eating potato chips. He stood for several stunned seconds before finding the ability to speak. "What the hell are you watching Sakuya?"_

"_Can't you tell? I'm watching porn movie." Sakuya said calmly. "Oh, lock the door Ryoma."_

"_I know what it is!" he snapped. _

"_Then why you asked?"_

_He shook his head. "How did you manage to get this?"_

"_I downloaded it from internet."_

"_You're incorrigible Sakuya."_

"_Just sit and watch."_

_Grumbling, he sat next to Sakuya. "This movie has no plot," he said after watching for five minutes._

"_Seriously Ryoma, I don't recall if this kind of movie ever has a plot." Sakuya replied. "And I want to watch some hot sex scenes not a depressing movie." The blond looked at the screen. "Three women and one man, that guy must be in heaven," he commented, shoving more potato chip into his mouth. _

"_If my mother finds out that we watch this..."_

"_It's normal for us to watch this," Sakuya said and gave him assessing look. "I'm wondering, since you never give a damn to those girls who fawn all over you, do you swing that way?"_

"_I do not swing that way!" he snapped. "I'm not interested in guy."_

"_If you say so," Sakuya shrugged. "Now sit and watch okay? Just consider this as..." the blond winked at him, "...sex education."_

"_I hardly consider this as sex education," he muttered._

_Sakuya rolled his eyes. "For once stop being so reasonable Ryoma."_

He wasn't interested in guy but he wasn't really interested in girl either. Most of girls in his old school only talked about diet, how to hook boys, new cosmetics, how to look like Paris Hilton and those silly talks annoyed him to no end. He wasn't indifferent to pretty face. He knew which girl was pretty and which who wasn't. Hey, he was a guy after all! But he felt nothing for them. It was different with Sakuya. Sakuya was the person he treasured the most in this world.

**Author's Note:**

Hi! It's me again. As usual please give me reviews.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summer Scent**

Chapter X

The subject of Ryoma's thought on the other hand, was busy peering into the kitchen. "Is the breakfast ready yet? I'm so hungry now."

"When you're not?" he said but he leaned back in his chair, content to simply observe his friend in action.

His mother laughed. "Well, that's Sakuya," she spoke up and entered the dining room, carrying tray of food. He noticed that most of the food was Sakuya's favorite food. His mother really spoiled Sakuya. As he recalled his mother had taken an instant liking of Sakuya at the first time they met years ago.

"Hmm...This is delicious. You are the best cook ever Rinko-san!" Sakuya said.

"I'm sure the cook at your house can cook better than me," she replied in her flat, good natured way.

Sakuya shook his head. "No, you are number one Rinko-san," he said earnestly.

"How many times I told you, you can call me Mom if you want to Sakuya."

"No, I think Rinko-san will do." He winked at her. "Beside that, you are too young to become my mother." Nanjiroh snorted upon hearing this.

Rinko only smiled and gave the bowl of soup to him. The blond took it and his face changed. "It has celery there," he said in disgust. Sakuya hated celery since he wasn't vegetable person.

"Here," Ryoma said, switching his bowl of soup with Sakuya's. "It has no celery there."

"Thanks." Sakuya said. "And this is for you. I don't really like roasted fish." He moved the fish from his plate to Ryoma's plate.

Rinko stared from one to the other, openmouthed. Then she began to giggle.

"What is so funny?" her son asked.

"Nothing," she waved her hands, trying to suppress the laughter. "Just enjoy your breakfast."

"So, how did the summer festival go Sakuya-san?" Nanako asked.

"It was great." Sakuya answered. "We went there with Ryoma's teammates, Ann and Sakuno." He turned to Nanjiroh. "Sakuno told me that Ryoma taught her how to play tennis. I thought it was weird then she told me that you're the one who asked Ryoma to do that. Did you try to set them up Nanjiroh-san?"

Nanjiroh gulped and looked at another direction. Did he try to set his son and that girl? Bah! He wouldn't waste his energy to do some kind of useless thing. Sakuya had gotten his son roped and tied. He didn't know how Sakuya managed to do that but probably it had connection with the loud noises he heard last night.

Meanwhile Nanako stared at Sakuya in amazement. This was the first time she ever seen her uncle at loss of word.

Sakuya wagged a playful finger. "It wouldn't work you know since Ryoma is always so cold."

Rinko watched her son face while Sakuya was speaking. It revealed nothing. Ryoma had brought Sakuya to home more than seven years ago. Over the next seven years their relationship went through many transformations: from friends to partners to brothers and to lovers. It was the single most important relationship in Ryoma's life.

Oh, she wasn't blind. She was aware of what happened between Ryoma and Sakuya. They were as close as it was possible for two people to be and she had seen the way Ryoma had looked at Sakuya. His eyes held an open fondness and something else, something she had never seen in his eyes before.

"Plus he is an anti-social, grumpy, and unfriendly too," Sakuya went on.

Nanjiroh, who had just taken a mouthful of orange juice, managed by a superhuman effort not to choke to death. Beside him, his wife giggled. Nanako's mouth dropped open in sheer astonishment. She couldn't believe it. Sakuya practically blurted it out in front of her cousin's face. She wondered how Ryoma would take this. Not that she needed to worry.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you've been thinking all of this time?"

Smiling mischievously, Sakuya said. "No, personally I found out that you're _so_ hot."

"Oh, get a room," Nanjiroh muttered in exasperation.

"Nanjiroh!" his wife chided him.

"Are you staying with your relatives here?" Nanako asked.

"No, I live alone." Sakuya answered. "Well, with the servants," he added as an afterthought.

"Alone?" Rinko said in surprise. "Why don't you stay with us Sakuya? I'm sure Ryoma wouldn't mind sharing his room with you."

"No," Ryoma said and four pairs of eyes turned to stare at him. The quickness of his response made Rinko confused. "It's better if Sakuya stays in his apartment," her son stated.

An expression she couldn't read crossed Sakuya's face then it gone, if ever she had seen it.

"Oh, I don't want to bother you Rinko-san," Sakuya said with an odd little smile.

She decided that it's wise to change the topic. "You joined Seigaku's tennis club too?"

"Yeah," the blond replied. "But Ryoma and I are in the higher level than the member of the tennis club."

Nanjiroh raised an eyebrow at this. "Have you played against them?"

"Only Momoshiro."

"And you won?"

Sakuya stared at him as if he was crazy. "Of course. I _do not_ lose."

Nanjiroh smirked. "Tell me that after you beat me, kid."

Sakuya's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I _will_. Sooner or later I will kick your ass." Then he returned to normal. "I have seen their playing. I can see it you know. They're just mediocre. Some of them even total amateurs. So boring."

He inwardly sighed. Sakuya never changed. When that child would understand that in tennis victory wasn't everything? Sakuya was a skilled and talented tennis player but he aimed winning only. He was utterly ruthless in the court. Oh, seeing Sakuya totally crush his opponent was impressive. But it wasn't a good game of tennis.

Sakuya liked tennis but he didn't love it. He had no passion for it, only ambition to become the number one. Perfection. Excellence. That's how his family worked. It was so much different with his son and those Seigaku students. Even those amateurs, like Sakuya so _nicely_ called them, were better in this department.

Sakuya lifted his slender shoulders in a shrug. "I don't know why Ryoma put up with them."

Ryoma almost smacked his blond friend. Sakuya really went too far this time. It's true he couldn't compare his teammate's skills with Sakuya's but that didn't mean Sakuya could go insulting them. He liked and respected his teammate therefore he wouldn't let Sakuya talking like that. He had to talk about this with Sakuya later.

And he was confused too. He was positive that Sakuya liked his teammate but now why Sakuya said such things? It never occurred to him, until the blond told him later, that Sakuya felt threatened by their presence. It was -old friend versus new friend, which one was more important- syndrome.

"Ah yes, instead of you, this year American Tennis Junior Championship is won by a newcomer. What's his name?" Sakuya wondered, frowning. "Smith probably? I don't really remember." Tipping his head to one side, Sakuya offered a superior smile. "We're _so_ much better than him anyway." Then he noticed that Ryoma didn't pay attention to him. "Hey Ryoma! Ryoma!"

"What?"

"I've been talking to you for the past five minutes and you haven't been listening to a word I've been saying. What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing."

Sakuya sent him a cynical look. "But you're frowning."

"Am not."

"Yeah, tell me that after you wipe that frown from your face," Sakuya said crossly and then turned to Rinko. "Do you enjoy your job here as corporate lawyer, Rinko-san? Which one do think is better, New York or Tokyo?" Sakuya knew a lot about business since his family consisted of businessman and politician.

"It's hard to tell which one is better but one thing for sure I enjoy my job here." She answered diplomatically.

"I see," Sakuya smirked. "Actually I was hoping that you would find Tokyo boring and return to New York," he said in a light tone, faking it as a joke. They only talked about harmless topic after that.

And after having breakfast they moved to dining room. Sakuya spotted a cake tin on the table. "Hmm! These are seriously good," he said, taking a second sugar dusted cake from the tin on the table. He ate the first one with abnormal speed. "The taste is fabulous."

"You have just eaten."

"I have this thing about sweet things. And these are to die for."

"Yeah, believe it or not I _have_ noticed it." Ryoma said sarcastically.

"Ryoma-san," Nanako interrupted them. "This is the brochure you're looking for."

"Huh? What's that?" Sakuya asked. "A tourist guide?"

"Yes, Ryoma-san said he wanted it."

Yesterday, her cousin had come to her, asking whether she had tourist brochure or not. She was so astonished at the question and she said yes. She could guess that her cousin wanted to take Sakuya sightseeing around Tokyo. Sakuya must have been something special because her cousin treated him like he was some kind of princess. Ryoma never seemed to get irritated at the increasing demands Sakuya made on him. And she had never seen her cousin this devoted to something, in this case to someone, aside of tennis, never.

At first she didn't understand why her cousin could put up with someone like Sakuya. Aside of good looks, oh yes, Sakuya was truly beautiful and she noticed that, what made Ryoma tolerate Sakuya so much? They were like day and night. But as she looked closer, she could tell that they were so much alike. They both were ambitious, aggressive, highly intelligent, self confident and out to conquer the world.

"So does that mean that we're going to have a walk today?" Sakuya asked.

Ryoma smirked. "I suppose so."

"Ryoma, you're the best friend ever!" Sakuya exclaimed happily and threw his arms around him, planting a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. Releasing him, Sakuya asked. "Why didn't you tell me? If I knew I would wake up earlier." His eyes scanned the brochure. "Joypolis Sega World? Sounds interesting."

"You can go there by train." Nanako suggested. Her face was red. She couldn't help blushing at the sight of Sakuya kissing her cousin. They both were oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Train? Cool!"

"No, we're going there by cab."

"But I've never been in train before! And you take train too!" Sakuya accused him.

"I take train but you don't." He spared a quick glance at his watch. "At this hour, train is full of people and you have to stand. So we go there by cab, okay." His tone of voice clearly indicated that this was the end of the conversation. Sakuya grunted something he couldn't quite hear.

"Mom, we're off now," he said.

"See you later Rinko-san."

"Be careful, okay?" Rinko replied. After the boys left, she turned to her husband. "Feel like we are having two sons." She grinned. "They're so much alike. A perfect match."

_Too perfect. _Her husband inwardly thought. _At this rate, you will never get a daughter in law. _Not that it's any of his business. But, if Sakuya was going to be his son in law, he had to make sure that he got a supply of porn magazine.

"I'm glad that he found someone he truly likes." Rinko spoke again. Actually she was a bit worried about her son. Ryoma was always serious in tennis. Not that it was a bad thing, she played tennis too so she understood it's just sometimes he was too serious for his own good. He was only a child after all. Even Nanjirou didn't behave in that way.

But Ryoma was nothing like his father. He was cold, uncaring and quite antisocial. Ryoma wasn't interested in anything that was not related to tennis. He didn't have a real friends and he didn't care too.

That was until the day Sakuya came into his life. She got offer to move to New York to expand her career and decided to take it. They then enrolled Ryoma into international school and that's where he met Sakuya. They quickly became friends with Sakuya as the initiator and then Ryoma seemed to change, as well as Sakuya. That child also had his own problem and their friendship had helped them both.

That was right. "As long as he is happy, that is enough." She muttered.

Behind his newspaper, Echizen Nanjirou didn't give any comment.

"You know, you're definitely nicer to me these days." Sakuya said. They were in Shinjuku now, eating at Kentucky. They had just come from Joypolis Sega World.

"When I was not nice to you?"

"Well, you were _always_ nice. Oh, I got it. _Don't push your luck_, right? I won't say anything anymore. I won't even ask why you never called me."

"That's-"

"Just forget I said that." Sakuya made a dismissive gesture. "Anyway I want more ice cream."

He sighed and got up from his chair. As he walked to the counter his mind flew to the moment when he told Sakuya that he was going back to Japan.

"_My parent will move back to Japan."_

"_Really? So when you're going to move to your aunt's house?"_

_How was he going to explain this? "Sakuya, my parents __and__ I will move back to Japan."_

_Sakuya looked up from his laptop and paid attention for the first time. There was a long pause as they stared at each other, then suddenly Sakuya's face flooded with dawning comprehension. "But why? You can stay with your aunt here!"_

_He explained it to him but it didn't work. Sakuya flared into a rage. He was not prepared for Sakuya's anger and the over display of it. He was even less ready for what followed. At his words, Sakuya snatched his laptop and hurled it at him. He ducked, and it shattered against the wall behind him._

_He eyed Sakuya warily. The blond was in bad mood. "Have you ever heard of anger management?"_

"_Anger management? I will show you what anger management is!"_

_He ducked as another thing was hurled at his head. Sakuya then snatched Swarovski crystal statue off of the shelf and held it up in the unmistakable treat._

"_That's a birthday present from my mother," he said. Sakuya glanced at it in sudden guilt and put it down._

"_We will move next Thursday," he said quietly. "The first flight to Tokyo at 8 a.m."_

_Sakuya only glared at him and then stormed out in angry frustration. They never met again. He waited for Sakuya but the blond didn't come to the airport. He wanted to give Sakuya something and until now he still kept that 'thing' in his drawer._

_Why he never called him? He called, just once. To tell him that he was in Japan. Sakuya was still angry with him and it seemed his call just made the situation worse. He didn't want to flame the fire so he thought he would wait until Sakuya calmed down. _

"Your order?" the waitress at the counter asked him.

"One chocolate ice cream cone." He returned to their table and gave the ice cream to Sakuya.

"Thanks Ryoma," the blond said, smiling.

"I'm amazed that you can still eat that much. You ate so much this morning."

"Your mother is a good cook and she cooked my favorite foods."

"She likes you."

"Of course she likes me. The question here is whether her son likes me or no."

His mother not only liked Sakuya, she loved him and thought of him as his own child. On the other hand, he had a feeling that Sakuya's father didn't like him very much. Oh, James was always nice but James would do anything Sakuya wanted him to do.

"Hey Ryoma, you see that building?" Grinning, Sakuya pointed at the building across the street. By the indication of the large neon signs it was evident that it was a love-hotel. "Can we take a look?"

"Take a _look_?" he stared at Sakuya with naked incredulity. "I can't believe you just asked me that."

"Why not? I said 'can we take a look' I never said 'let's spend time there.'"

On this point he's really glad that they're always talking in English. He let out a long breath and tried to reason with him. "You _do _know what kind of people who go there so stop joking around Sakuya."

Snickering, Sakuya said. "That's too bad. I've always wanted to know what's inside that place."

He glared at him.

Afterwards they went to Kinokuniya. Kinokuniya bookstore at Shinjuku was the largest one and after buying some books they went to Akihabara, the electronic district. Sakuya said he was looking for a new laptop and a new cell phone. The blond had no limit in fund department since his father allowed him to spend money as much as he liked. They went to Apple shop and after they finished they returned to Sakuya's apartment. The maid opened the door, revealing the 70 foot living room that made up of the plushest penthouse in Tokyo. "Welcome back Sakuya-sama, Ryoma-san."

Sakuya arched an elegant eyebrow. "Ryoma-_san_?"

Sakuya disapproving voice interrupted the maid servant. She flushed, smoothing her hands nervously down her starched white apron. "Please forgive me Sakuya-sama. I meant is Ryoma-sama," she corrected. "Uhm...the dinner is ready," she said, leading them to the dining room.

"She reminds me of Sakuno," Sakuya said later, after they retreat into his bedroom. "Always nervous and shy though she is nice." He stretched in the bed and kicked off his shoes.

"Now, this is the first." Ryoma observed. "I never heard you talk like this before."

"Most of the girls I know are money digger. If they want money they should go after my father, not me. I don't have money, at least not until I'm eighteen."

"Now that's what I call information."

"Very funny Ryoma," he replied. "Hey, I want to go to Disneyland tomorrow."

Their conversation was cut by the ringing of Ryoma's cell phone. It was his mother, so he told her that he was going to spend the night in Sakuya's place and they would go to Disneyland tomorrow.

"What did she say?"

Shrugging, he said. "Have a fun."

"Have a fun, eh?" Sakuya smirked. "I'm sure we're going to have a lot of _fun_ tonight." Sakuya had a mischievous gleam in his eyes that left no doubt what he was really talking about.

He smirked back and pulled Sakuya into his arms. In one swift movement he already had Sakuya lain down beneath him then he bent down to claim Sakuya's mouth with one fierce, possessive kiss. He lifted his head and found Sakuya staring at him with glazed eyes. "Come on Ryoma. Kiss me." The blond said, in a naughty tone of voice that sent sparks of heat licking up from the bottom of his spine.

He certainly didn't have to be asked twice. He bent his head again, crushing Sakuya's lips beneath him. The taste of Sakuya was like a drug, soothing his nerves, exciting his desire. Sakuya ran his fingernails lightly down his back, while making incoherent little noises that drove him insane. He felt weak with desire, conscious that at this moment he would give Sakuya anything Sakuya asked of him. He kissed Sakuya again before pulling back.

Sakuya could feel Ryoma pulling away but then Ryoma was nipping his lower lip with his teeth ever so gently, before kissing the corner of his mouth. Then he felt something wet and hot moving on his neck. Goosebumps quickly sprang up on his skin. He wasn't cold, far from that. He was burning with desire. And by his looks, he could tell that Ryoma felt the same too. "Ryoma..." He breathed out. At this moment, Ryoma could do with him anything the dark haired boy wished. "What take you so long?"

As if it was the clue, Ryoma gripped his hips and entered him slowly. He tensed when he felt a tearing pain rip through him but it lasted only for a second and was instantly forgotten when he felt Ryoma thrust inside him. It felt good. Too good even. Their lovemaking was always like that, full of passion and desire.

Sakuya came first, followed by him. He stayed within Sakuya, allowing them both time to catch their breath and letting their bodies settle down from the exercise. When he was calm enough, he pulled out carefully and then kissed Sakuya forehead. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.

Sakuya smiled. "I'm perfectly fine."

He stroked Sakuya damp hair away from his face with a gentle hand and bent his head to kiss him, this time slower and softer, sliding his tongue ever so gently into Sakuya's wet, warm mouth, enjoying the way Sakuya whimpered when he did. Then he rolled over, taking Sakuya with him. For a moment they just lay there, enjoying the afterglow. Sakuya was lying on his side, his blond head on his shoulder, one arm flung carelessly across him.

"Sakuya..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you like Japan?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"This place is fun," Sakuya said, carefully sidestepping a direct answer. He liked this place but if he admitted it how he was supposed to persuade Ryoma to go back to New York? "And I was thrilled at the prospect of seeing you again."

He didn't press Sakuya to give him the real answer. Sakuya yawned and he told him to go to sleep. Sakuya relaxed against him, and within seconds the blond was asleep.

At 9 a.m. Sakuya woke up. He felt happy, extremely happy. He stretched and turned, only to find Ryoma propped up on his elbow, watching him. How long had Ryoma been lying that way, watching him slept? Then he remembered something. "What time it is? Why didn't you wake me up? We're going to Disneyland, right?" but he stopped talking as Ryoma kissed his mouth.

"Just shut up. Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" Ryoma murmured as the dark haired boy moved from his mouth to the hollow of his throat.

"No," Sakuya said breathlessly. "Who dares to order Sakuya-sama anyway?"

"Nobody," he agreed in a mocking tone. "You should take a bath now." He carried Sakuya off toward the bathroom. Inside the bathroom, he dropped him, reaching around to open the shower door and turn on the water. He stepped back into the shower, holding out his hand. Sakuya's lips curved into a smile as he edged into the shower, up against the slick, wet, warm body of Ryoma. They walked out from the bathroom one hour later after making love once again in the shower.

After having breakfast they went to Tokyo Disneyland. "Ryoma! Let's try this first!" Sakuya gestured toward The Haunted Mansion with the brochure he held rolled in his hand, "Come on!"

He watched as Sakuya walked through the crowd, unsmilingly observing the heads which turned to follow Sakuya as he walked, though Sakuya seemed completely oblivious of it. The truth was the blond chose to ignore the staring he got.

Ignoring the queue, Sakuya showed their tickets and the guard let them in. "These are special tickets, with this we don't need to stand in line." The blond explained.

"How did you get that?"

"Money can buy everything," Sakuya said curtly then he sighed. "I hate it if people are nice to me because of my father but I'm so used with those special treatments that I can't live without it. I'm such a hypocrite."

"No," he said quietly. "You're just being honest." Sakuya's eyes widened.

He had always known it. Along with money came privilege and power. And Sakuya, regardless of everything he had said, couldn't let it go. But he didn't give Sakuya a chance to argue. He grabbed Sakuya's hand and hushed him inside.

After Haunted Mansion, they went to Space Mountain, followed by Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. They both liked roller coaster, the scarier the better. "That's a great fun!" Sakuya exclaimed happily. "Now I have visited all Disneyland in this world, well except of Hong Kong Disneyland."

He smiled faintly seeing Sakuya's laughing face. This wasn't bad. He mused inwardly. They could stay like this forever. Little did he know what would happen next.

**Author's Note:**

Hi. It's me again. I hope you like the story. And as usual please give me reviews.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summer Scent **

Chapter XI

It was a break time and Momoshiro decided to have a lunch in Echizen's classroom. But when he came there, he didn't find the brat, so instead he was having lunch with the trio plus Sakuno and Osakada.

After lunch he decided to take a stroll for a while. He was about in the middle of his way to the backyard when he caught a flash of blond hair. Since Sakuya was the only blond in the school, Momoshiro was positive that Echizen was also with him. Stirred by his curiosity, Momoshiro approached them. He stopped dead in his track however, when he saw Ryoma holding Sakuya's hand and kissing it, for crying out loud!

It happened so casually and sweetly, like when a husband kissed his wife on the cheek everyday before heading out of the door for work, that he almost didn't catch it. If Momoshiro had any doubt about the shape of their relationship before now, what he had witnessed had confirmed his suspicion. Well, he would say that they deserved each other with the way Echizen treated those girls who liked him, even Sakuno who was the closest to him. It was a wonder how affectionate Echizen was with Sakuya. He wasn't saying that Echizen suddenly turned sappy or something. The brat was still as sarcastic as usual but yet the way he interacted with Sakuya, it was like a game for both of them.

He was about to leave when Sakuya turned his head and saw him. Uh oh. He hoped that Sakuya didn't take his presence the wrong way. Maybe thinking that he was spying them. Even though normally he wouldn't waste a chance to tease the brat and certainly didn't feel embarrassed if he, let's say, spied on Echizen and Sakuno, the same couldn't be said about Sakuya. There was something in Sakuya that gave the feeling that no one would try to cross the blond.

Said blond said something, Momoshiro could see his mouth moving, and then Echizen turned at him. Momoshiro groaned. Now he couldn't escape. It would look awkward. He cursed his curiosity and made a way toward them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

One week had passed since their trip to Disneyland and Sakuya still hadn't approach the subject about going back to USA with Ryoma. As much as the life here was fun, he hadn't forgotten his purpose yet. But how to do that when he didn't even have time together with Ryoma except a few hours at night and in the morning before they went to school. Then when they did go out, the entire team was with them too, or at least a few of them had to tag along. And the worst part was that Ryoma seemed to enjoy their company. Why couldn't they leave him and Ryoma alone? Those annoying pest's. It started to get on his nerve. In fact, he was ready to scream with frustration.

What Sakuya didn't realize was the more he got annoyed at them, the worse his attitude towards them became. He was even already bad mouthing them and that finally had gotten Ryoma's attention. Of course, it was not in the way the blond would have liked.

Sakuya, in his normal self, would enjoy Momoshiro's or Kikumaru's company and their friendship. There was no doubt about that. After all, it's not every day he could meet people who're genuinely nice towards him and act normal. But now, he only saw them as his rivals to Ryoma's attention. After having Ryoma all for himself for years, now he suddenly had to share him and that's something he didn't know how to do. The sooner they went back to America the better it was for him. However while he was trying to broach the subject, he was overtaken by an event.

It was a break time. Ryoma and he were having a lunch in the backyard. For once he was free to be together with Ryoma. His happiness however didn't last long when he suddenly spotted Momoshiro.

He cursed inwardly. His choice of words would even make sailor blush if only he said it out loud. Why, oh why couldn't he escape Ryoma's teammate? He flatly refused to use the word friend and always referred them as Ryoma's teammate or classmate. Something, which actually bothered Ryoma, not that Sakuya noticed it though.

Sakuya's bad mood didn't lessen as time went by. Actually it increased during the school time. The more he thought about it, the more his mood darkened. His mood only lightened by the prospect of going out together with Ryoma since tennis practice was cancelled. Oishi had announced it at morning practice, making him shout happily inwardly.

"_Hey Ryoma," he tugged at Ryoma's sleeve._

"_What?"_

"_I want to eat at Hanamasa later," he said._

_Ryoma pondered it for a second. "Fine," Ryoma said curtly._

"_Thank you Ryoma," he said happily._

And now, he was waiting for the dark haired boy when he saw Oishi approaching him.

"Sakuya-san," Oishi said. "Do you see Echizen?"

"No," he raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say that the practice is cancelled this afternoon?"

"Well," Oishi fidgeted. "It's cancelled but there's a meeting later. Only for regular's," he explained, "about the upcoming friendship tournament. So, if you see Echizen would you please tell him that I was looking for him?"

"Okay."

Oishi smiled gratefully. "Thanks Sakuya-san."

He watched as Oishi headed down the steps, and then disappeared around the side of the building. Oishi had come to tell Ryoma about the meeting. What a dedicated vice captain he was.

"Are you done yet?" a familiar voice interrupted him.

He turned. "Ah, Ryoma."

"Why are you still standing here? Didn't you say that you wanted to go to Hanamasa?"

Sakuya was torn. Should he tell Ryoma about the meeting? But they hadn't spent time together lately. But Ryoma would get mad at him later if he didn't tell him about the message. _Yet it's only a meeting anyway. _The selfish part of him whispered. _Ryoma isn't the only regular here. He could always ask the other about the meeting. _Yes, but what if it's important? _Ryoma isn't the captain. Even if he missed it, there's no impact. It's only a meeting, not tennis practice. Everyone know's how much Ryoma's obsessed with tennis._ Well, it was true but… _You came here not to see him slip away from your arms, did you? Or have you forgotten your promise with your father?_

With that thought on his mind, he then said. "Let's go Ryoma."

**XXXXXXX**

They went to restaurant and spent two hours eating and talking. He was having such a good time. So much, that in fact he already had forgotten about Oishi at all.

They went home to Ryoma's house at night, almost dinner time, in which Nanako greeted them. "Dinner is ready," she told them.

"We just ate," Ryoma said but Sakuya was never one to refuse food and dragged them to the dining room.

"We went to Hanamasa, all you can eat buffet restaurant," Sakuya explained. "But I'm still hungry. Hmm…What are those wonderful smells coming from the kitchen?"

Nanako frowned hearing it. "Didn't you have tennis practice?"

Never faltered, Sakuya replied. "No, it was cancelled and thanks for that."

Mercifully, food was allowed to drive out all the other topics of conversations. Sakuya piled his plate high with food. "That was good," he commented after dinner. The dinner was superb anyway and he was slender and could eat all he wanted and never gain a pound yet he complained as he glanced at his stomach. "Argh...I'm stuffed."

"You do look stuffed," Ryoma said.

"Hey. You're supposed to support your friend," Sakuya complained.

"I do support my friend but I do not support idiocy," was Ryoma's reply.

"Ryoma…" Sakuya whined as he playfully punched his best friend on the arm.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sakuya was a bit worried coming to school the next day because he knew that his best friend would find out about his scheming but he didn't think that Ryoma would get that angry at him. But apparently he was wrong.

"Ryoma," he called. But when he saw the dark haired boy's expression he knew that something was wrong.

"You didn't tell me that I had a meeting yesterday," the warmth in Ryoma's tone dropped several degrees.

"I forgot," he countered.

Ryoma narrowed his eyes. "You didn't. You willfully didn't tell me because you were bored with tennis practice and wanted me to skip it," Ryoma said, guessing the truth.

"So?" he asked. "It's only one stupid meeting," Sakuya retorted.

"Do you know what the meeting is for?"

"No. And I don't want to know." Why was Ryoma angry at him anyway? It was only one stupid meeting attended by a bunch of idiot's who couldn't even play tennis but thought that they were so great. He didn't realize that he had voiced his thought until he saw Ryoma's expression.

That's it. Ryoma had lost his patience, and everything, which had been bubbling inside of him, now came to a violent boil. "Watch your mouth Sakuya," he warned him.

Sakuya was taken aback by Ryoma's harsh words. Ryoma was never ever this mad at him. Sure, they had fought a few times before. But Ryoma's words never held any malice. Unlike now. And that's what made him mad too. Why did Ryoma always defend his teammates? They're not that great in tennis anyway. He was still so much better than them. Why would Ryoma care about them?

If there's anything, Ryoma should defend him. They had known each other for years and now Ryoma suddenly cared more about those people who he only knew for two months rather than him? That's unacceptable.

"What is the matter with you?" he snapped. "Why are you so touchy today?"

"What's the matter is that you keep insulting my friends."

"I insulted your friends?"

Now, he got mad at Ryoma too. "So I insulted your friends, huh? No wonder you never called me after you moved. You don't need me anymore after you have your nice new friends!"

"I called you once but you screamed on the phone. That's a really nice way to treat your supposed friend." Ryoma said, heavy on sarcasm. He was never the type who spoke his feelings out loud. But now, he really got angry at Sakuya's selfishness.

"Are you trying to suggest that any of this is my fault?"

"Not only I suggest it but it is your fault."

"What?"

"You're the most selfish person I've ever met. You always want everything to be done based on your whim. And you always get angry if it doesn't happen. Grow up. If you don't like it here, just go back to America."

Sakuya felt that Ryoma had just slapped him on the face. Shaking with anger, he replied. "Maybe I will."

"Fine. Good riddance."

There was a sudden silence in which Ryoma's words seemed to echo. His response was just to stop there and stare at Ryoma. He didn't say anything and for the longest time Ryoma just stood there and stared at him. Ryoma also didn't say a thing.

The silence lasted several seconds, which felt like hours.

"There you are!" Momoshiro popped out from nowhere. "Practice is…" he trailed off awkwardly seeing them. What was going on here?

Echizen finally turned to look at him and he gulped at the look on the brat's face. Scary. Echizen walked off passing him, followed by Sakuya.

What was wrong with these two?

**XXXXXXX**

"We're going to have a practice match," Inui looked at his list. "The first one is Echizen against Sakuya-san."

Everyone looked at each other. Kikumaru who saw Momoshiro's face when Inui announced this pairing, asked. "Oi Momo! What's wrong? Has something happened?"

"Damned if I know," he replied.

Meanwhile, Sakuya stopped in the middle of the court and spun his racket.

"Rough," Ryoma said.

He bent and looked. Smirking, he said. "Smooth. I will serve." He was still angry, but his rage had cooled to an icy implacability. He was so going to show Ryoma, how much his tennis ability was superior to them.

Outside the court, people gathered.

"What happened?"

"Echizen versus Sakuya-san?"

"Who is going to win?"

It was a big fuss. Everyone knew Sakuya had beaten Momoshiro and that he and Echizen were double partners. To see who the stronger one between the two prodigies was, was a chance that no one wanted to miss.

Ignoring the crowd, Sakuya took the stance to serve.

Ryoma looked at the blond. "Ready to lose for the first time in your life?" he taunted.

Ryoma was furious that Sakuya said such things. What was wrong with the blond? In all their years of friendship, Sakuya had never ever acted like that. Sure, Sakuya was cruel to people he didn't like but those people deserved it, unlike Momoshiro, Kikumaru and his friends at Seigaku. They were anything but friendly and nice towards Sakuya.

Ok. It wasn't like he himself was polite or nice to them but he truly liked them. And he stood by them. Even though from the outside he was still cold and sarcastic as usual. That's how he was. And they knew it and accepted it. Not that it stopped them from complaining every once and a while.

But Sakuya was totally rude to them for no reason at all. He had listened to Sakuya's rant for days and that was more than enough. If it were someone else, he would've undoubtedly taught them a lesson a long time ago. He had snapped at Sakuya because he was piqued by Sakuya's rudeness. He wanted to fling enough words at the blond to get Sakuya to wake up and behave.

Sakuya narrowed his eyes. "We will see who crushes who."

**Author's Note:**

Hi. I want to say thanks to all of you who have reviewed. And special thanks to swatchy for her help to check the grammar in chapter 10.

And I'm so sorry to that I have taken so long to post this chapter. Actually I have written the story long time ago, it's just I'm not satisfied with the result and therefore I rewrite it a few times.

Even now, I still dislike a few part of this chapter. Mostly because Ryoma, for me, is really out of the character. I want to write scene in which he got angry with Sakuya. However, I don't think that the words fit his personality.

I finally read the manga to the ending and we finally found out that Ryoma indeed went back to the states. So, I will write about this in the ending of course and add Sakuya to the plot. And this story will follow to the tournament against America team, which only happen in the anime, and then jumped to the ending to the manga. Because I can't write the story through all of the nationals.

As for Sakuya's image. I don't see him as Kevin Smith, that would be weird and Sakuya would never ever dressed or behave like Kevin did. I imagine him as one female model I saw in the fashion advertisement. She has short blond hair and high cheek bone and of course really pretty.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summer Scent**

Chapter XII

Unfortunately, Ryoma and Sakuya didn't get to finish their match due to the bad weather. Ryuzaki sensei had come outside to see them and barked out to stop the match, then went back inside. It was like Ryoma's match against Fuji, which was stopped due to the heavy rain. Yet still, it ended in Sakuya's favor.

After that, Ryoma went to see Ryuzaki-sensei. No doubt Ryoma wanted to ask about yesterdays meeting, leaving Sakuya to fume alone. Ryoma didn't look or speak to him at all. Having no outlet to channel his anger, he went home sulking. The rain had stopped, so he could walk around a bit before going home.

His feet brought him to the park, where he could see a few people playing tennis. Not again. Were people in this country obsessed with tennis so much? Sakuya was about to leave when he saw someone familiar. Wait a minute. Wasn't he the guy who played against Ryoma? A smirk slowly formed on his face. Well, this might get interesting.

"Hi, you there! Do you want to play tennis?"

Genichiro Sanada turned as he heard someone address him. Sanada's initial reaction was to say no to this unknown foreigner. However something stopped him when he saw that the stranger's expression was clearly enunciating that Sanada was below him. The stranger clearly looked at him as if he was something beneath him. What a rude and arrogant boy. Why not then? He could teach the brat not to underestimate Japanese people. However, it was him who lost badly. He was defeated quickly by the stranger 6–5, 6–3, 6–0. And that boy manipulated him throughout the entire game.

"I won," the mysterious boy declared. "This is so boring. I thought you could at least give me some better entertainment. I guess I had hoped too much." The blond shrugged in his shoulders and came to stand in front of him, smirking into his puzzled face. Sanada stared at the stranger's calm face, he didn't appear in the least bit excited, and he felt chilled at his casual manner.

"Well, see you later. Or not." And with that the blond left.

Who was this boy? And what was a foreigner doing here? Although he spoke fluently in Japanese, his green eyes and blond hair was enough to tell. From his appearance, he was undoubtedly in senior high school. A freshman. And for a moment, Sanada was reminded of another arrogant boy yet who was also a tennis prodigy whom had beaten him before. That boy from Seigaku, Echizen Ryoma.

**XXXXXX**

Sakuya was feeling a bit better after beating that guy. And to think people called him 'The Emperor'. Please. He wanted to laugh out. Why did Ryoma have such a high opinion about them anyway?

Speaking of Ryoma, what should he do now? He sighed mentally. If Ryoma was mad at him like this, the probability that Ryoma would agree to go back to New York with him was getting smaller. And to think that at first he was so sure that Ryoma would agree easily to his request. Apparently he underestimated the whole situation. Not to mention his promise to his father. That damn promise. He only told Ryoma that his father was against his decision but finally relented. What he didn't tell Ryoma was the promise he made with his father. Now, he must reanalyze his plan.

"Sakuya-sama?"

"Yes?" He inquired.

"Ryoma-sama is here and wishes to meet you," the maid said.

"Let him in," he ordered

A moment later, Ryoma stepped into the living room.

**XXXXXXXX**

Ryoma had gone to Ryuzaki-sensei, inquiring her about the meeting. For her credit, she merely explained it without asking the reason as to why he skipped the meeting. After it, he found out that Sakuya had gone home without him. When having a tantrum, Sakuya always retorted back to a five-year-old child, sulking and fuming. That was nothing new for him.

Why had he bothered anyway? Sure, Sakuya was his best friend but this… he sighed mentally and decided to pay visit to Sakuya. They really needed to talk anyway. So, he went to Sakuya's apartment in Roppongi Hills. On the way, he saw something in the book stall and smirked.

As he entered Sakuya's apartment building, he recalled their fight earlier. They had exchanged many nasty words. Sakuya even had threatened to go back to New York, to which he angrily agreed to. Knowing Sakuya, who tended to act recklessly in anger, Sakuya might be packing his bags now. Only to unpack when he had cooled off. That was typical of Sakuya.

It's not like he wasn't glad for Sakuya's presence. After all, he missed Sakuya. That was obvious. It was rather impossible to spend seven years with someone you had grown up with, to suddenly have to deal with their absence. They had practically grown up together, and were closer than brothers. He missed Sakuya. Missed that bright, wicked smile. Missed those huge mischievous eyes. Missed those impulsive hugs and wet, passionate kisses.

He wasn't being romantic or something. That's what he felt even though he never showed it. It might not bear any relation to what he felt, but he could always manage to stay cool and collected all the time. And after two month of not seeing Sakuya, only to end up in a fight because of Sakuya's dislike towards his friends in Seigaku was truly ridiculous. He had new friends now and he liked them, and that was saying something, considering the way he behaved around them. But they were not Sakuya. There's no one else he could talk to like he could talk to Sakuya. That never changed. No one could replace Sakuya.

He wanted Sakuya to get along with them because it would do well for Sakuya to have someone to talk to and not to rely on him all the time. Sure, he didn't mind that. But that was now. Soon, they would grow up and become adults. They would walk their own path then. What if he wasn't available? He didn't want Sakuya to be all alone. That's the reason he encouraged Sakuya's friendship with Momoshiro and the others. But the result wasn't what he had expected. He didn't understand it. Sakuya usually always respected people who were genuinely nice.

What Ryoma hadn't realized yet was Sakuya took them as competitors for his attention. Sakuya obviously didn't understand. Sakuya, who had been given everything his heart desired ever since he was born.

It's a psychological thing. Some parents showered their children with gifts to show that they cared. If they cared about their children, they would buy this Nintendo Wii for them. If they loved their children, they will allow their children to spend their holiday in Switzerland at a ski resort. Some parents just wanted to spoil their children silly. And some parents wanted to compensate their absence at home by granting their child's every wish.

The latter one was what happened to Sakuya. James was always busy with his work and as a result, indulged Sakuya's every whim. His father's way of making him happy was to say yes to everything he wanted, but no child should have that much freedom. Sakuya knew his father could never deny him anything. And as result, he unconsciously equalized the love given to him by all those things.

**XXXXXXXX**

Ryoma saw Sakuya sitting on the couch and chose to sit in front of the blond, staring at his best friend.

"I'm sorry," Sakuya suddenly blurted out.

He almost didn't believe his ears. For someone with Sakuya's pride, he knew it would be hard and he certainly wasn't expecting an apology. Sakuya probably had never apologized for anything in his life.

Sakuya, on the other hand, only wanted to get back in Ryoma's good graces.

"…_If you don't like it, just go back to America."_

"_Maybe I will."_

"_Fine. Good riddance."_

He grimaced at the memory. For now, he better not do anything that could spark Ryoma's wrath. What if Ryoma suddenly got serious about his words?

At first, he was attracted to Ryoma because Ryoma was different from everyone else. For possibly the first time in his life, he was sure that someone was interested in him for himself alone and he found the knowledge oddly satisfying. And after seven years, he found himself incapable to be parted with his dark haired friend. He came to Japan, aside from persuading Ryoma to come back to America, was because he was bored and lonely. The void created by Ryoma's absence made time move with unbearable slowness.

But what about Ryoma, what if Ryoma and he both each had different opinion about their relationship? After all, he had always known that he needed Ryoma much more than Ryoma ever needed him.

"Sakuya, are you listening?"

"Ah, yes…" With a shake of his head, he pushed away all the gloomy thoughts out of his mind and tried to concentrate on the present.

Ryoma didn't look like he believed him but continued his words. "The meeting was to explain about the friendship tournament with USA West Coast team. So, we are going to the training camp. 28 players from several of the surrounding schools will gather at a camp to decide the 8 people who will be representing Japan against the American team."

"Oh. Okay," he said, not knowing how to respond to that.

"Anyway, I got this for you." Ryoma stopped talking and handed him something wrapped in red paper with a gold ribbon. His favorite colors.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Just open it."

He did. It was only a book. "Danger! Ego out of control!" he read the title and looked at Ryoma with disbelieving eyes. "Recognize the warning signs. Dominates everything, loves power, must be the center of the attention, has a high opinion of himself and his abilities and always thinks he is right…" he trailed off. "Ryoma!" he whined. It was one of the gag gifts Ryoma usually gave him but it also a way for telling him that they were fine, for now at least.

"It suits you." Ryoma took a quick look at his watch. "I have to go now. We'll come back from the camp in two weeks. I will call you, okay." Ryoma then kissed him on the forehead and left, leaving him with his thoughts alone.

**XXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, at the same time in New York. In the highest building at the Rothstein Plaza, James Rothstein was having meeting with his board of directors to discuss the coming annual general meeting of shareholders.

"Based on the income statement which has been audited by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a professional services firm under Swiss Verein, we recorded a net income of $48.6 billion on a $477.5 billion of revenue in this fiscal year, an increase largely due to the escalating oil prices, making us the world's largest company by revenue. We propose to use 60.0% of the net income for dividend and 40.0% for next year capital expenditure, combined by hybrid financing." Philippe, his nephew, who was one of the directors, said.

He nodded and proceeded to the next agenda when his Blackberry flashed, indicating a new email message.

"…high price of oil will ultimately reduce the dependence on oil. With a really high price you encourage the exploration and development of alternative sources of energy…." Philippe continued but James's attention was already on the email Takagi had just sent, which informed him about Sakuya.

He might not able to say no when Sakuya wanted to go to Japan. But he managed to make his son promise him that if Sakuya failed in his quest, he would go back to America, alone.

**Author's Note****:**

Hi. It's me again. I read the reviews and it's true. Even I have lost interest in prince of tennis years ago well but I still write this story now because I have to finish it since I already plan the whole story till the end. I don't want to make Ryoma out of the character because the reason why we like him is because his cool personality.

But in real life, if a girl got a cold boyfriend like that I don't think she will like it. At least he might be cold towards other people but he has to be nice to her. After all that what a boyfriend should do to their loved one. That's what I'm trying to do with the whole Ryoma and Sakuya relationship.

The last, please give me reviews. At least once. It makes me know that there are people out there who read and like my story.


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